A Woman of Yesterday

In a secluded Vermont village where a modest parsonage overlooks the winding Monk River, a young woman named Anna Mallison lives under the watchful eye of her minister father. At eighteen, she moves through the quiet evenings of the parsonage’s garret, tending to small duties that echo the weight of long‑standing expectations. The novel opens with Anna’s nocturnal ritual of arranging a box of books, a seemingly simple act that hints at her yearning for knowledge and a life beyond the narrow confines of Haran.

Through lyrical prose, the story explores the delicate balance between devotion to family, the pull of tradition, and the stirrings of an independent spirit. As Anna confronts the moral codes of her tight‑knit community, readers are invited to share her quiet resilience and the subtle tension that builds in the spaces between duty and desire. This early chapter sets the stage for a thoughtful journey into love, faith, and the possibilities of a future that may yet differ from the past.