Description

Who would have thought that Louisa May Alcott, the beloved author of that classic tale of virtuous girlhood, Little Women, also wrote many thrilling tales of mystery and romantic intrigue? Behind a Mask, a collection of recently discovered Alcott stories, reveals an entirely new side of an American writer about whom many assumed they knew everything. To the surprise of readers all over the world, Alcott filled the pages of these four stories with passionate love affairs, ghoulish hauntings, and cliff-hanging adventures. In the case of at least one of these tales, “Pauline’s Passion and Punishment,” the financial success that Alcott enjoyed from this very daring sort of writing allowed her to continue her literary career and go on to pen many of the more conventional works with which she is associated. Often written under a pseudonym or anonymously, the tales included in this dazzling collection are full of the kind of energy and excitement that will leave even today’s readers breathless.

About the Author

Drawing from her childhood in a close-knit and unique family from Concord, Massachusetts, Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) created a beloved collection of works about young people coming of age in the post Civil-War era. Alcott's books for young adults, among them Little Women, Jo's Boys, Under the Lilacs, and An Old-Fashioned Girl, are noted for their wholesome themes. However, she was a multi-faceted writer who also dabbled in a more grown-up genre. Sometimes published under a pseudonym or anonymously, Alcott's alternative body of work consists of "less respectable" and torrid romances, mysteries, and thrillers such as A Long Fatal Love Chase, A Modern Mephistopheles, and Behind a Mask.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

"Has she come?"
"No, Mamma, not yet."
"I wish it were well over. The thought of it worries and excites me. A cushion for my back, Bella."
And poor, peevish Mrs. Coventry sank into an easy chair with a nervous sigh and the air of a martyr, while her pretty daughter hovered about her with ...