Norston's Rest (1877)

Norston's Rest is a novel written by Ann Sophia Stephens and published in 1877. The story follows the life of a young woman named Flora Campbell, who is orphaned at a young age and sent to live with her wealthy but distant relatives at Norston's Rest, a grand mansion in the English countryside. Flora struggles to fit in with her new family and finds solace in the company of the estate's gardener, John Dalton.As Flora grows older, she becomes increasingly aware of the social and class divisions that separate her from the rest of her family and the wider world. She falls in love with John, but their relationship is threatened by the disapproval of Norston's Rest's upper-class society. Meanwhile, Flora's cousin, the beautiful and manipulative Adeline, schemes to marry a wealthy suitor and secure her own position in society.Throughout the novel, Stephens explores themes of love, class, and the struggle for identity in a rigidly stratified society. Norston's Rest is a vivid portrayal of Victorian England, with its complex social codes and hierarchies, and a poignant story of love and loss in a world where social status is everything.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.