God, it really is so interesting to get to read some of these rather obscure early 20th c books, that are, thanks to Persephone Press and The Bloomsbury Group, being re-released. Wish Amazon would link to ther very attractive new cover, but it won't, and I'm feeling lazy, so that's that for cover images. ANYWAY.
Best known for her childrens' writing, such as The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett also wrote adult fiction, and this is a really surprising example of that.
A bit of fairytale, a bit of romance, a bit of gothic suspense and danger, but with a heartily, astonishingly down to earth heroine- 35 year old Emily Fox-Seton, who, to the surprise of all, marries the dashing Marquis of Walderhurst. Emily's later-in-life marriage causes upheaval among her family and new in-laws, but she carries the day in the nicest of ways.
She is a bit of a Sara Crewe, in that she sees the best in every situation, but she also, as a woman and not a young girl, has passion and a lust for life that unworldy Sara never seemed to have.
Very interesting book!
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