
On a crisp autumn evening, Molly Lavender steps off her carriage into the sprawling grounds of Redgarth, a renowned girls’ boarding school nestled near a cathedral town in northern England. The school’s grand hall, leafy gardens, and cozy house‑rooms introduce a world of disciplined study balanced with lively recreation, promising both challenge and comfort. From the moment she meets the dignified Miss Leicester, the head of St. Dorothy’s, Molly senses the blend of tradition and youthful camaraderie that defines life at Redgarth.
Yet the newcomer’s excitement is tinged with nervous shyness as she navigates her new room, the soft linens, and the unknown faces of her peers. Through her inner monologue we glimpse her determination to prove herself to a skeptical grandmother and to carve a future beyond the expectations of her time. Listeners will be drawn into Molly’s first steps toward friendship, self‑discovery, and the subtle tensions that animate a late‑Victorian boarding school.
Language
en
Duration
~7 hours (444K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2014-05-16
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1854–1914
Best known for lively girls’ school stories and a huge range of popular fiction, this Irish-born writer helped shape late Victorian and Edwardian reading for young audiences. She was remarkably prolific, writing adventure tales, mysteries, historical fiction, and stories that reached far beyond the schoolroom.
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