Katherine Cecil Thurston was an Irish-born novelist. Born Katherine Cecil Madden in Cork, Ireland, she was the only daughter of banker Paul J. Madden (also Mayor of Cork 1885-1886) and Catherine Madden (nee Barry). Privately educated, by the end of the nineteenth century she was a contributing author of short stories for various British publications such as Pall Mall Magazine, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Harpers, Windsor Magazine, and others.

In 1901, she married writer Ernest Temple Thurston. They separated in 1907 and were divorced in 1910. According to The Times, 8 April, 1910, the divorce was filed on grounds of his adultery and desertion.