{"product_id":"behind-a-mask","title":"Behind a Mask","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":"William Morrow \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51942042960103,"sku":"9780688151324","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_6a759a90-d6cf-46c6-bba8-afe965c9f595.jpg?v=1775244293","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/behind-a-mask","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}