Yes, her job was the loneliest in the world. No king, no dictator set high upon a pinnacle, was as friendless as the headmistress of a girls' school.Charlotte Fairlie loves her position at the illustrious St. Elizabeth's, but it's not without its challenges-first among them her trouble-making maths mistress Miss Pinkerton, who yearns for Charlotte's job and spares no effort to complicate her life. Then there's the charming Lawrence Swayne, headmaster of a nearby boys' school, who has plans of his own for Charlotte's future. But it's the arrival of Tessa MacRynne, desperately homesick for the Scottish isle of Targ and distraught about her parents' impending divorce, who really stirs things up-giving Miss Pinkerton fresh ammunition, helping the unfortunate Eastwoods, who cower beneath their father's snide, critical personality, and inspiring Charlotte to spend an unforgettable holiday on Targ. Adventures, pleasures, misunderstandings, and tragedies follow, told with D.E....

How old you can grow in three years! It is only a fraction of time but to Esther Musgrave it seemed longer than all the rest of her life put together. In three years she had become an entirely different person-or so she felt.Following the death of her beloved husband, Esther believes she will never be happy again. But soon, her "natural buoyancy" and the problems and adventures of her three daughters-difficult, unmarried Delia, cheerful and practical Margaret, and young Kate just out of school-bring her pleasure and purpose anew. The local Dramatic Club's troubled new production, the arrival of an attractive widow with a hint of scandal about her, the return of Esther's long-estranged stepson, and Kate's perilous rendezvous with a young ne'er-do-well whom Stevenson fans will recognize from her earlier bestseller The Tall Stranger-all provide drama, laughter, and joy to the reader as well as to Esther herself.First published in 1960 and set in the Cotswolds, The...

"There's something . . . I mean we simply must see Miss Fortune now. She isn't in bed, is she?""No, she ain't," said Nannie grimly. "She ought to be, but she ain't, an' you shall see 'er. Ho, yes you shall! Both of you shall see 'er before you're any older."The village of Dingleford is all aquiver with the arrival of lovely young Miss Fortune with plans to open a tea house. Captain Charles Weatherby, just back from India, has "no use for bright little creatures no matter how long their eyelashes might be," but his perspective shifts when they actually meet (much to his mother's secret delight). The interest of Harold Prestcott, perpetual doormat to a smothering mother, is also piqued, much to her bitter chagrin. And when Miss Fortune's sister arrives in the village, soon pursued by an irate Frenchman, confusions bloom, passions flare, and hilarity reigns, all in classic D.E. Stevenson style.The Fair Miss Fortune, written in 1938, was originally (rather...