Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman was an American author. She is best known for her novel Pembroke, and for short stories about the people of rural New England. She also wrote ghost stories that are still often reprinted, such as those in The Wind in the Rose-Bush. The Shadows on the Wall is one of her short ghost tales. She was born in Randolph, Massachusetts, and wrote with a sharp ear for local speech and character. Readers often value her for how quietly she builds a sense of dread.