Elizabeth Drew Stoddard (née Barstow) was an American novelist and poet active during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Born in Massachusetts, she later married the author Richard Henry Stoddard, after which she began publishing her poetry in leading literary magazines. Her verse was noted for its intellectual depth and sophisticated style, though her poems were not collected into a single volume, Poems, until late in her life in 1895.
Stoddard is perhaps best remembered for her three novels: The Morgesons (1862), Two Men (1865), and Temple House (1867). These works offered atmospheric and psychologically complex portraits of New England scenes and characters. Although these novels did not achieve major commercial success upon their initial release, they found a wider, more appreciative audience when they were reissued in 1888.
In addition to her adult fiction and poetry, Stoddard also contributed to children's literature with her 1874 juvenile story, Lolly Dinks's Doings. Her writing is frequently studied today for its sharp departures from the sentimental conventions of her era, establishing her as an important precursor to American literary realism.
