Anne's father is away most days out of the year. So when her mother dies, he hands her into the care of the Fieldings. They are a family that tries to love her, tries to help her forget her sorrows -- and they try to take care of her. Too many things remind Anne of her dead mother, however, and so she has a difficult time returning the affections of the matriarch. When she finally begins to love them, she is sent off again for school. By the time she returns, she discovers that the family children have grown, as had she. They begin to love each other more than brother and sister. But will they survive the ravages of war to find their happily ever after?

May Sinclair was an active member of the suffragette movement. Her best-known novels include "The Three Sisters" (based on the Bront sisters), and "Life and Death of Harriet Frean," "Anne Severn and the Fieldings" is partly based on Sinclair's own experiences during World War I.

At that moment, in a flash that came like a shifting of her eyes, the world she looked at suffered a change... It was the same world, flat field for flat field and hill for hill; but radiant, vibrant, and, as it were, infinitely transparent. Tales of eternal damnation, love, sexuality, death and supernatural talents form the core of May Sinclair’s essential and groundbreaking oeuvre. Literary and still thrilling today, her stories explore the strangeness at the heart of human experience and relationships, where the mundane and the everyday meets lurking, otherworldly weirdness. Including the contents of the classic collections Uncanny Stories (1923) and The Intercessor and Other Stories (1931), this new volume also features two rare strange tales from a third, lesser-known book which explore further facets of Sinclair’s fascination with the uncanny.

Did Horace "dare" take a risk on that poet Rickman?

The poet dropped his aitches, for one thing. And there was the matter of that actress he doted on -- low-class! Yet cousin Lucia kept asking about him . . . and Horace did think maybe, just maybe, Rickman was a genius. But could Horace introduce Rickman to his club? He yearned to -- and yet, as he told Lucia, "The burnt critic dreads the divine fire!"

In this witty 1904 novel of literary and social manners and foibles, May Sinclair demonstrates all the wit, perception and style that made her one of the most respected -- and most read -- novelists of her time.

Raised in a restrictive and oppressive household, Harriet Frean is used to sacrificing her own happiness and comfort for the sake of others, in fact, she's proud of it. Taught that women were to be submissive, pious, kind, and quiet, Harriet molds herself into the perfect Victorian woman. Though she struggles with the crushing expectations of Victorian gender roles, Harriet finds comfort in her close relationship with Prissy, her best friend. As the two grow older, they conform to their expected mold. With Prissy's support, Harriet continues her dedication to being the perfect woman, and is in pursuit of a husband. However, when Harriet finally falls in love, she is overcome by a crisis of conscious. Her entire perception of herself is shaken and her beliefs are challenged, because she has fallen for an unavailable man. Unsure how to process her feelings, Harriet begins to isolate herself in shame, because she cannot possibly tell anybody, not even Prissy, that she is in love with her best friend's fiance. Originally published under one-hundred years ago, May Sinclair's Life and Death of Harriet Frean explores questionable ideals still present in modern society. With topics of romance, gender roles, and identity, Life and Death of Harriet Frean is both timeless and a perfect record of the harmful ideals of English Victorian society. As a pioneer of the stream-of-consciousness literary style, Sinclar's prose is captivating and brilliant, allowing her characters to feel real and familiar to readers, creating a narrative that is undeniably compelling. This edition of Life and Death of Harriet Frean by May Sinclair now features an eye-catching new cover design and is printed in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition of Life and Death of Harriet Frean creates an accessible and pleasant reading experience for modern audiences while restoring the original brilliance and insight of May Sinclair's work.