24 h 10 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
An English title promises a grand marriage. For one American sister, it becomes a house of fear.
Rosalie Vanderpoel leaves her wealthy New York family to marry Sir Nigel Anstruthers, an English baronet. Charming in company, he controls her at home. When Rosalie falls silent, her younger sister Betty crosses the Atlantic to find answers. Rosalie’s fear, and her need to protect her young son Ughtred, give Betty every reason to stay.
In The Shuttle, Frances Hodgson Burnett brings American money into a world of English titles, strained pride, and a decaying country house. Betty tackles the repair of Stornham with practical resolve. Nearby, the proud but cash-poor Lord Mount Dunstan tests her view of marriage. Power matters here: who holds it, who suffers, and who can challenge it.
What you’ll discover
- A sister who acts Follow Betty as she looks beyond polite excuses and refuses to leave Rosalie without help.
- Charm with a cost See the distance between Sir Nigel’s agreeable public face and his control at home.
- A house worth repairing Step into Stornham, where Betty’s money and practical work reach beyond a family crisis.
- Pride meets practical sense Meet Lord Mount Dunstan, whose title and lack of money complicate the question of a good match.
- Power behind closed doors Explore a marriage where law, property, and fear weigh heavily against a frightened wife.
Who will love it
For readers who love character-driven Victorian and Edwardian fiction, strong heroines, and stories about class and money. The two sisters’ story brings marriage, power and the ties between America and England into focus.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two sisters and an Atlantic marriage
- Betty crosses the ocean to find answers
- Sir Nigel and the house of fear
- Money, work and a village brought back to life
- Lord Mount Dunstan and a different sort of match
- What the shuttle weaves and how Burnett tells it
Who’s who
- Betty VanderpoelThe clever, steady younger sister from New York, who crosses the ocean to learn why Rosalie has gone silent and to put things right.
- Rosalie VanderpoelBetty's elder sister, who marries an English baronet and becomes a frightened, withdrawn woman, desperate to protect her young son.
- Sir Nigel AnstruthersAn English baronet, charming in company and controlling at home, who treats his American wife and her family as resources for his own use.
- Lord Mount DunstanA proud, serious neighbour with an old title and little money, who comes to know Betty and tests her view of marriage.
- Reuben VanderpoelThe New York financier and father of the sisters, whose great wealth stands behind Betty and shapes her practical outlook.
- UghtredRosalie's delicate young son, whose welfare adds weight to her fear and to Betty's resolve.
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- Large print hardcover
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The Shuttle
by Frances Hodgson Burnett · 1907
Betty crosses the Atlantic to discover why her sister has fallen silent in an English baronet’s home.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Two sisters and an Atlantic marriage
The story begins with the Vanderpoel family of New York. Reuben Vanderpoel is a man of huge fortune, and he has daughters raised in comfort and expecting the best of life. The elder, Rosalie, is gentle and beautiful. She marries Sir Nigel Anstruthers, an English baronet with a title and a country house called Stornham Court.
The match is the kind that was common at the time. American money meets English rank, and both sides are supposed to gain. Sir Nigel is charming in company and knows how to make a good impression. The family sees a handsome husband and a place in English society for Rosalie.
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What is The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett about?
It is about two American sisters of a rich New York family. One marries an English baronet and falls into silence. The other travels to England to find out why and to repair her sister's life.
What does the title The Shuttle mean?
A shuttle carries thread back and forth on a loom. Burnett uses it for the marriages that pass between America and England, joining the two countries and weaving something new from them.
When was The Shuttle written?
It was published in 1907. It is a work of fiction, not a true story, but it draws on a real fashion of the time, when wealthy American heiresses married into English titled families.
The author
Frances Hodgson Burnett
1849–1924 · English-American novelist and playwright
Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was a novelist and playwright born in Manchester, England. She moved to the United States in 1865 and later lived in England and New York. Her books include Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911). She died in New York.
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