In the mid-1850s, Catherine was encouraged to start writing again by her niece Sarah Ellis, already a successful novelist. In 1860, Warfield published anonymously as "A Southern Lady," "The Household of Bouverie", a gothic fiction in two volumes. It achieved great popular success. The story tells of a young orphan who comes from England to live with her grandmother in America. The young woman encounters her grandfather Erastus Bouverie, long presumed dead, living in secret on the second floor. He has become a reclusive mad man attempting to create a youth-restoring potion. The story deals with their relationship, and the unfolding narrative of a dark and torrid family history. Warfield was praised as "Shakespearean," and one contemporary writer said, "Of living female authors, we can openly class Mrs. Warfield with George Sand and George Eliot." The novel met with strong reception.