Myrtle Hazard, an orphan raised by a sour aunt in a New England village, runs away down the river and comes home changed, her nature seemingly shaped by the wild and saintly ancestors whose portraits hang in the house. An old scholar, Byles Gridley, watches over her as suitors and a scheming lawyer close in.
A companion to Elsie Venner, in which the Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table explores heredity and the mind. Download the free EPUB.