What Katy Did

About Susan Coolidge

Susan Coolidge was the pen name of Sarah Chauncy Woolsey (1835–1905). Born in Ohio, she served as a nurse during the Civil War and after that turned to writing. When her first book, A New Year’s Bargain, was published in 1871, her editor, who was also the editor for Louisa May Alcott, suggested that Susan Coolidge try her hand at the same kind of story as Alcott’s. What followed were five books about the irrepressible Katy Carr and the fortunes and misfortunes of the Carr family, characters based on members of Coolidge’s own family.