When twenty-four-year-old Eric Marshall arrives on Prince Edward Island to become a substitute schoolmaster, he has a bright future in his wealthy family’s business. Eric has taken the two-month teaching post only as a favor to a friend—but fate throws in his path a beautiful, mysterious girl named Kilmeny Gordon. With jet black hair and sea blue eyes, Kilmeny immediately captures Eric’s heart. But Kilmeny cannot speak, and Eric is concerned for and bewitched by this shy, sensitive mute gi...

Wharton's most erotic and lyrical novel, Summer explores a daring theme for 1917: a woman's awakening to her sexuality.Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall lives in the small town of North Dormer, ignorant of desire until the arrival of architect Lucius Harney. Independent yet kept from love until now by society's expectations, Charity finds herself wrapped up in a love affair with Harney.Like the succulent summer landscape in the Berkshires around the...

Sara Stanley is only fourteen, but she can weave tales that are impossible to resist. In the picturesque town of Carlisle, children and grown-ups alike flock from miles around to hear her spellbinding tales.When Bev and Felix, two city boys, are sent to Carlisle for the summer, they are captivated by this very different rural island and by Sara Stanley, the Story Girl. Their vacation becomes a time for magic and mischief as they spend their days with Sara and the eccentric local pe...

There might be worse fates than spending a few months at Idlewood, Laurie thought, as the Chicago winter howled around her. It was, after all, the the beloved family home where she found comfort and peace as a lonely young girl. Certainly her Aunt Ida's invitation was well intentioned, and she couldn't really have meant what she said: "I have nothing of which to complain, considering my age. I only hope I will be taken before my mind fails. Fairies in the woods, indeed!"But when La...

Scotland is Susan’s passion and obsession, and the opportunity to join a Highland dig is a dream come true for the young archaeology student. But then a sinister stranger slips Susan a cryptic message in ancient verse—and is later found viciously slain. A mysterious peril has unexpectedly emerged from the mists to haunt Susan, sending her running for her life in the company of handsome, unconventional laird Jamie Erskine. Caught up in international intrigue involving the trafficking of his...

One of the classic works on interior decoration, Edith Wharton's The Decoration of Houses offers a comprehensive look at the history and character of turn-of-the-century interior design. Cowritten with architect Ogden Codman, Jr., this invaluable reference provides us with numerous keen and practical axioms for house design, such as (1) The better the house, the less need for curtains, and (2) the height of a well-proportioned doorway should be twice its width.In the words...

This spare, mesmerizing novel is Edith Wharton’s money-can’t-buy-happiness tale. Young Stephen Glennard is poor, but he has an unanticipated gambling chip: a collection of love letters from a scorned but now famous lover, the distinguished novelist Margaret Aubyn. To raise money for his forthcoming wedding to another woman, Stephen stoops to selling the letters. His decision brings him wealth and admission to society, but a mystery contained in the missives comes back to haunt him, and it ...

Digging up a buried past could lead to a premature death, for there is a dangerous secret that is centuries old—as old as the treasure of Nefertiti.Althea Tomlinson comes back to Egypt as just another tourist, showing the country to a spoiled seventeen-year-old.That's what she tells herself, anyway.The truth is more complex—and dangerous. Ten years ago, something that happened in this desert land brought about her father's ruin and subsequent death—and Althea intends to clear her d...

The annual Historical Romance Writers of the World convention in New York City is calling to Jacqueline Kirby, a Nebraska librarian who desperately desires some excitement. But all is not love and kisses at this august gathering of starry-eyed eccentrics and sentimental scribes. As far as Jacqueline is concerned, the sudden "natural" death of a gossip columnist seems anything but. And when she's approached by a popular genre star who fears for her own life, the resourceful Ms. Kirby quickl...

She may be a bestselling author, but ex-librarian Jacqueline Kirby's views on the publishing biz aren't fit to print. In fact, she's thinking of trading celebrity for serenity and a house far away from fiendish editors and demented fans, when her agent whispers the only words that could ever make her stay: Naked in the Ice.Seven years ago, this blockbuster skyrocketed Kathleen Darcy to instant fame. Now the author's heirs are looking for a writer to pen the sequel. It's an...

Ellie and Henry are young, rich, in love, and engaged. In the carefree days before marriage and new responsibility, Ellie is happy to accept hereccentric Aunt Kate's request that shehouse-sit atKate's palatial estate in Burton, Virginia. With its nearly invisible housekeepers and plethora of pets, Ellie feels right at home. Conventional Henry, however, finds Aunt Kate and her lifestyle a little hard to take, and so he departs. After he leaves, Ellie realizes that there are disturbing secre...

The lethal stuff of legendsFor Jessica Tregarth, an unexpected invitation to visit her grandfather in England comes as a wonderful surprise, an opportunity to open doors to a family history that have always been closed to her. But her arrival is greeted by mysterious villains who pursue her through Cornwall, their motive and intentions unknown. Jessica's only clue is an antique heirloom she possesses, an ancient ring that bears the Tregarth family crest. Her only ally is handsome g...