7 h 45 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 45 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a dangerous secret mission leads to a wedding no one plans—and a love no one expects?
In The Best Man, Grace Livingston Hill brings a risky government mission into the path of an accidental marriage. Secret service work sets the story moving, but the wedding changes its direction. Danger and affection meet in a romance where neither the marriage nor the feelings that follow belong to anyone’s plan.
Hill makes love a question of character as well as feeling. Pressure tests her heroes and heroines, and their choices show who they are. This story pairs a mystery’s forward pull with gentle faith and a firm moral sense. The promise is adventure with warmth: a world where danger has a place, but cruelty and cynicism do not.
What you’ll discover
- A mission with risks Follow a secret service assignment that brings danger into an unexpected love story.
- A wedding without a plan Discover a romance that turns the usual order of courtship and marriage upside down.
- Character under pressure Watch choices matter as love and conscience meet the demands of a risky adventure.
- Affection that arrives unexpectedly Enjoy the warmth of love that grows without being forced or carefully schemed.
- Faith and a warm heart Find gentle faith woven into a fast story with a hopeful moral center.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you like romance with a plot that moves, spy errands in the days of trains, mistaken identity, gentle humor, and heroes who win hearts by courage and kindness.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A clear mission meets an empty heart
- Kindness interrupts the urgent journey
- A quiet exchange hides the danger
- A church becomes an unlikely shelter
- The wedding places Gordon beside Celia
- A promise makes escape less simple
- Small kindnesses begin to answer fear
- Chance and humor keep events moving
- Decency connects the mission and courtship
Who’s who
- Cyril GordonA young Secret Service agent, honest and quick, who must bring a stolen cipher message home while a wedding mistake binds him to a stranger.
- Celia HathawayA gentle, sad young woman who marries to protect her family and finds that her husband is not at all the man she feared.
- George HayneThe selfish, scheming groom who plans to win Celia and her fortune by blackmail, but is delayed by a very small accident.
- Jefferson HathawayCelia's frank, cheerful young brother, who arranges the wedding details and quickly warms to the man he takes for his brother-in-law.
- The chiefGordon's gruff superior in Washington, who chooses him for the mission and plans every detail of it.
- The thickset manA hired henchman of the Holman group who tracks Gordon by instinct, but is often outwitted by his own greed and sleep.
- Mr. HolmanA crafty New York host who holds the stolen message and plans to use it for his own gain.
- Julia BentleyA handsome, imperious young woman who expects Gordon to marry her and keeps him at her beck and call.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The Best Man in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Best Man
by Grace Livingston Hill · 1914
A Secret Service agent ducks into a church to escape his pursuers and finds himself standing at a stranger's altar.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“Don’t let anything hinder you!”
In short
What would you do if armed men were chasing you, you ducked into a church, and the crowd took you for the best man? That is the trouble of Cyril Gordon, a young Secret Service agent, in The Best Man by Grace Livingston Hill.
The Best Man at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 30 min3 h 35 min fast, 5 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 63,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1914by Grace Livingston Hill
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A chief sends a young agent north
On an ordinary morning in Washington, Cyril Gordon is called into the inner office. His chief, a man of sharp blue eyes and few words, asks whether Gordon can catch a train to New York in thirty-two minutes.
Gordon will travel as a tourist named John Burnham and dine with a Mr. Holman. A message of national importance, written in cipher, has been stolen and sits in Holman's wallet. Gordon must recover it, using a substitute paper if necessary. The chief ends with a rule that rings through the whole book. Do not let anything stand in your way.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1914
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 0 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Hill, Grace Livingston. The Best Man. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-best-man.
Hill, G. L. (2026). The best man. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-best-man (Original work published 1914)
Hill, Grace Livingston. The Best Man. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-best-man.
@book{hill2026best,
author = {Hill, Grace Livingston},
title = {The Best Man},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-best-man},
note = {First published 1914}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Best Man
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Best Man by Grace Livingston Hill about?
It follows Cyril Gordon, a young Secret Service agent who steals a coded message in New York. Chased by enemies, he hides in a church and is mistaken for the best man, which leads to an accidental marriage and a love story.
Who is who in The Best Man?
Cyril Gordon is the agent. Celia Hathaway is the bride and Jefferson her brother. George Hayne is the real groom. Mr. Holman is the host who holds the stolen message. Julia Bentley is the woman who expects to marry Gordon.
Is The Best Man a true story?
No. It is a work of fiction by the American author Grace Livingston Hill, who died in 1947. It is set in the days of trains, carriages and early automobiles, and it mixes spy adventure with romance.
The author
Grace Livingston Hill
1865–1947 · American Christian novelist
Grace Livingston Hill was an American novelist and short story writer. She was born in Wellsville, New York, in 1865 and later lived in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where she died in 1947. She wrote Christian romance novels in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including Marcia Schuyler and The Man of the Desert.
“Don’t let anything hinder you!”
More by Grace Livingston Hill
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
