A Daughter of Astrea

A Daughter of Astrea is a romance of intrigue in which Oppenheim turns the ideal of Astraea-the classical figure of justice and lost innocence-into a suggestive framework for modern melodrama. Centered on a heroine whose moral force confronts deception, social ambition, and political uncertainty, the novel blends courtship plot, mystery, and adventure. Its prose is brisk, urbane, and highly readable, placing it within the late-Victorian tradition of popular sensation fiction while anticipating the cosmopolitan thrillers that would make Oppenheim famous. E. Phillips Oppenheim (1866-1946), an English novelist of extraordinary productivity, brought to his fiction a keen awareness of business, class mobility, and international affairs. Before becoming known as "the prince of storytellers," he worked in the family leather trade, an experience that sharpened his eye for practical ambition and social negotiation. His fascination with disguise, diplomacy, and hidden motives informs this novel's dramatic architecture. Readers interested in early modern popular fiction, especially the transition from Victorian romance to Edwardian thriller, will find A Daughter of Astrea rewarding. It offers suspense, sentiment, and ethical seriousness in a compact narrative shaped by Oppenheim's instinct for pace and atmosphere.

Pagina's: 56, Paperback, Sharp Ink