
Seventeen‑year‑old Cinthia Dawn has spent her whole life under the watchful eye of her austere aunt, the ever‑practical Mrs. Flint. Raised in plain clothes, surrounded by cracked mirrors that hide her natural beauty, she has learned to keep her thoughts to herself while secretly devouring poetry and novels. Yet the rain‑soaked afternoons and the monotony of a modest home leave her yearning for the glitter of elegant gowns, lively parties, and the thrill of a first love.
When the world beyond the modest sitting‑room beckons, Cinthia’s restless spirit pushes against the strict rules that have kept her confined. Her aunt’s warnings about vanity and the fear of “dangerous” romance clash with Cinthia’s growing desire to experience life on her own terms. As the season changes, the young woman finds herself at a crossroads, where the promise of adventure threatens to upend the safe, orderly existence she has known.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (324K characters)
Series
Hart series no. 59
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: The Arthur Westbrook Company, 1897.
Credits
Demian Katz, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University.)
Release date
2022-09-30
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1850–1937
A hugely popular American romance and dime novelist, she built a long career from melodramatic plots, family secrets, and cliffhangers that kept readers coming back. Writing as Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller, she published dozens of novels over roughly fifty years.
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