{"product_id":"behind-a-mask-the-unknown-thrillers-of-louisa-may-alcott","title":"Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott","description":"Six years before she wrote \"Little Women,\" and in financial straits, Louisa May Alcott entered \"Pauline's Passion and Punishment, \" a novelette, in a newspaper contest. Not only did it win the $100 prize, but, published anonymously, it marked the first of the series of \"blood \u0026amp; thunder tales\" that would provide her livelihood for years. For as she said, \"They are easy to 'compoze' \u0026amp; are better paid than moral...works.\" The gruesome, passionate stories reveal a darker side of Alcott. Published anonymously or under the pseudonym of A. M. Barnard, they appeared in weeklies over a century ago. In their mastery of suspense and psychological drama, and in their embodiment of a startlingly intense - if oblique - feminism, they attest to the multifaceted genius of their creator. \"Pauline's Passion and Punishment\" features a woman who is scorned by her lover and left with her fury and her desire for revenge. The male hero of \"The Mysterious Key\" must unearth secrets hidden away in a family tomb if he is to realize true love. Mysterious pasts and all-too-present jealousies conflict for some surprising effects on the holiday mood in \"The Abbot's Ghost.\" And \"Behind a Mask\" tells the chilling story of a woman thwarted by love, whose main motivation becomes her desire to dominate an entire family.","brand":"Louisa May Alcott","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46789989400812,"sku":"9780688151324","price":23.46,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9780688151324.jpg?v=1756963407","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/behind-a-mask-the-unknown-thrillers-of-louisa-may-alcott","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}