The first book in M.C. Beaton's charming Edwardian Candlelight series. She was a bewitching young girl, that pretty Polly Marsh, and she knew it. She also knew that beauty could be her passport into the castles where she had always known she belonged. So she set her sights for a duke and joined the firm of Westerman's as a stenographer. Surely one of that noble family would notice her and then all of her dreams would come true! The trouble with Pretty Polly Marsh was that she just didn't know her place. But others did, and were only too happy to remind her that dashing Lord Peter was merely playing at love when he appeared to be paying her court. The duchess was beside herself. Peter's brother, the starchy Marquis of Wollerton, was desperate to pry Peter from Polly's side. But Polly was determined to have Peter, and her dream. Peter wouldn't betray her, would he? The Edwardian Candlelight Series chronicles young, passionate girls who come to understand the nature of true love despite overwhelming odds. From a penniless pauper, a stenographer, a governess to an accused murderess, these ladies in love overcome incredible odds with grit and sophistication to find and keep true love.

The eleventh book in M.C. Beaton's charming Edwardian Candlelight series. It's a maiden's miracle! Annabelle Quennell, daughter of a poor country parson, gets a chance at a London Season to snare a wealthy husband. But before she sets off, Mad Meg the Gypsy predicts trouble ahead! And it is nothing but woe that Annabelle finds. Godmother Lady Emmeline sponsors Annabelle's spree - and demands she wed the oafish Captain MacDonald. But things get worse when Annabelle fears she is losing her heart to Lord Varleigh - elegant, well-pursed, but who is taken by another mistress! What a pickle Annabelle had gotten into, and it only gets more sour by the moment! The Edwardian Candlelight Series chronicles young, passionate girls who come to understand the nature of true love despite overwhelming odds. From a penniless pauper, a stenographer, a governess to an accused murderess, these ladies in love overcome incredible odds with grit and sophistication to find and keep true love.

The Rivals and Polly Honeycombe revolve around young women who wish the world would conform to novelistic convention. Unlike most eighteenth-century heroines keen on novel reading, however, Lydia Languish and Polly Honeycombe are neither deluded nor in any real danger. Rather, they inhabit a world in which everyone is engaged in some sort of quixotic performance; the more appealing characters are just willing to admit it. Both farcical and wise, these plays teasingly celebrate the perennial appeal of fiction, while never letting us forget how much it relies upon the everyday rituals of performance. The introduction to this Broadview edition explores the interrelations between print and performance in the eighteenth century, including a detailed and well-illustrated account of what it was like to go to the theater. Appendices include material on the original casts, the often dubious reputation of novel reading and circulating libraries, Sheridan’s high-profile elopement with Elizabeth Linley (which made him a celebrity before he ever staged a word), and the narrative possibilities conjured up by setting The Rivals in the resort city of Bath.

The Taming of the Wilderness describes the process of transforming the flora and fauna of nineteenth century Indiana from Hunting Grounds of Native Americans to commercial agriculture and its supporting industry. The book is in three parts: 1800-1825: Living with the Wilderness; subsistence living under primitive conditions; 1825-1850: Bridling the Wilderness; canals and steamboats facilitate trade; and 1850-1875: A Wilderness Vanquished; railroads dramatically change farming and the environment. A dominant theme portrays the fate of Native Americans who were pushed out of their sacred lands by coercion and brute force so the settlers could remake the landscape to their own liking. The author animates the story with personal experiences of genuine pioneer families. The book reads like a novel. It gives the reader a feeling of having been there and experienced the drudgery as well as the joys of taming the wilderness.