Hester (Summarized Edition)

Hester is a novel of Victorian life, set in a provincial banking town where character is measured, like credit, by bonds of trust. At its center stands Catherine Vernon, the formidable matriarch who once saved the family bank, and her brilliant young kinswoman, Hester, whose intelligence and moral ardor chafe at the limits of gratitude and dependence. Oliphant's poised omniscience, edged with iron...