11 h 57 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 57 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does loyalty cost a woman when others refuse to keep faith with her?
In Faithful Margaret, Annie Ashmore places a steadfast heroine in the world of the Victorian domestic novel. Family, money, marriage and conscience shape its concerns. Margaret's defining strength is her faithfulness, a quality that raises a difficult question: what does she owe to the people she loves?
Around that question lies a world of small communities, social rank and choices that carry a heavy cost. Loyalty meets deception, and strength takes the form of endurance. The draw is Margaret herself: a woman who holds her ground, whose character matters as much as the pressures that test it.
What you’ll discover
- A heroine who endures Meet Margaret, a woman whose faithfulness is both her strength and a risk.
- The cost of loyalty Consider what we owe those we love when they do not keep faith.
- Family and conscience Enter a domestic world where marriage, money and duty give personal choices their weight.
- Bonds tested by deception Explore the tension between a faithful heart and the deception that tests human bonds.
- Quiet strength under pressure Find a story that places endurance, rather than grand action, at the heart of courage.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy Victorian melodrama, brave heroines, villains in disguise, and plots full of forged letters, chases and midnight dangers, with a love story built on forgiveness.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A last wish becomes a trap
- Pride turns strangers into enemies
- Friendship conceals a dangerous design
- A rescue offers uncertain shelter
- Compassion survives rejection and loss
- A familiar face fails her tests
- Proof places Margaret in danger
- Identity means more than appearances
- Loyalty does not mean giving way
Who’s who
- Margaret WalsinghamA sea captain's orphaned daughter and Mrs. Brand's companion, she wants to refuse a fortune and find honest work, but duty keeps pulling her back.
- St. Udo BrandA proud, reckless guardsman and heir to Castle Brand, he scorns the will's conditions and sails for America to win fame in the war.
- Roland MortlakeA watchful stranger with a thin, smiling face who first appears as a messenger and wants something that does not belong to him.
- Lady Juliana DucieA lovely, spoiled marquis's daughter who owes Margaret her life and wants a rich husband and admiration above all.
- Chevalier de CalemboursA Hungarian adventurer with ribbons and crooked legs, he befriends St. Udo and chases gold wherever fortune leads.
- Mr. DavenportMrs. Brand's gruff lawyer and an executor of her will, he is loyal to the Brands and slow to believe Margaret.
- Dr. GayThe kind little physician and co-executor who loves Margaret like a daughter but cannot imagine she is right.
- Duke of PiermontA young, wealthy Irish duke who is struck by Margaret's goodness and hopes to win her hand.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 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.
Faithful Margaret
A poor companion defies two guardians to unmask a killer who wears a dead hero's face.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
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
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
Margaret Walsingham kneels beside a dying woman and begs the doctor for one more half hour. She wants the old lady to see her grandson before she goes, and she fears what his coming will mean.
Faithful Margaret at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 55 min5 h 30 min fast, 8 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 99,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
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 dying woman binds two strangers by will
Old Ethel Brand is dying in her castle at Seven-Oak Waaste in Surrey. At her side is Margaret Walsingham, a sea captain's daughter who has served as her companion for four years. Margaret begs the doctor to keep the old woman alive until her grandson, St. Udo Brand, arrives from London.
Mrs. Brand has written a will that gives the whole estate to her grandson, but only if he marries Margaret within a year. If he refuses, the estate goes to Margaret herself. Margaret hates the plan. She dreads St. Udo, a charming, reckless guardsman who has spent his own fortune and scoffs at faith. Even at the deathbed she pleads for the will to be changed.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 45 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Ashmore, Annie. Faithful Margaret. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/faithful-margaret.
Ashmore, A. (2026). Faithful Margaret. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/faithful-margaret
Ashmore, Annie. Faithful Margaret. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/faithful-margaret.
@book{ashmore2026faithful,
author = {Ashmore, Annie},
title = {Faithful Margaret},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/faithful-margaret}
}
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 Faithful Margaret
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 Faithful Margaret about?
It follows Margaret Walsingham, a poor companion left a castle in a dying woman's will. She tries to give it to the true heir, then must expose a dangerous man who comes to Castle Brand wearing someone else's face.
Who is Roland Mortlake?
Roland Mortlake is the stranger who delivers a note to Castle Brand on the night Mrs. Brand dies. Margaret later recognises him and sets out to prove who he really is, at great risk.
When is Faithful Margaret set?
The story takes place in 1862 and 1863, partly in Surrey and London and partly in the United States during the Civil War, where St. Udo Brand serves in the Federal army.
The author
Annie Ashmore
Novelist
Annie Ashmore is the author of this Victorian novel, which is set in 1862 and 1863 and shows the taste of its age for melodrama, long letters, dramatic chapter titles and heroines who suffer and endure. Little else is certain about her. The book itself offers a world of English castles and railways, Southern plantations and moral certainties.
More 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
