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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 198 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 198 pagesAbout this book
What if love asks for honesty, but honour holds the heart silent?
At Shenstone, an English country house, its mistress stands at the centre of a romance shaped by feeling, faith and duty. Florence L. Barclay brings these forces together in The Mistress of Shenstone, where love faces the demands of honour and secrets keep hearts apart.
Among the English gentry, strong feelings meet restraint. Barclay tells the story with warmth and sincerity, without the distance of irony. The tension lies in what love asks of people, what conscience allows, and what remains unspoken. This is a quiet romance in which duty matters as much as desire.
What you’ll discover
- A house at the heart Enter Shenstone, the English country house that holds so much of the story's feeling.
- Love beside honour Explore a romance where feeling must reckon with duty, rather than simply sweep it aside.
- Secrets between hearts Follow the tension of hidden truths that bind people while keeping them apart.
- Feeling held in check Discover the pull between deep affection and the restraint that shapes this country-house world.
- Warmth without irony Meet Barclay's direct, earnest storytelling, which treats love, faith and conscience with sincere attention.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy a warm romance with a strong moral heart, vivid comic figures, seaside scenery, and a story about love, pride and forgiveness.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Peter senses what Myra cannot
- Loss reveals the depth of loyalty
- A borrowed name offers freedom
- Jim sees beyond her rank
- Courage becomes something they share
- Trust deepens on the ledge
- Her true name changes everything
- Familiar objects gather new meaning
- Love asks for more than courage
Who’s who
- Myra, Lady InglebyA beautiful young widow who feels she never grew up and who longs to find a love that teaches her to live fully.
- Jim AirthA tall, plain-spoken traveler and writer who whistles like a blackbird and fears the power of a beautiful face.
- Sir Deryck BrandA trusted nerve specialist who reads people and animals alike and sends Myra away to heal under a borrowed name.
- Jane DalmainMyra's sensible, warm friend, married to a blind composer, who speaks plainly and gives wise counsel.
- Margaret O'MaraMyra's devoted former maid, a soldier's widow, who bears her own grief by serving her mistress.
- The Duchess of MeldrumA sharp-tongued old friend who says what she thinks and loves to arrange other people's lives.
- Ronald Ingram and Billy CathcartTwo young soldiers, both devoted to Myra, who return from the war worried and shy in her presence.
- Miss Susannah MurgatroydThe youngest of three prim sisters at the Moorhead Inn, who loves romance and flutters at Jim Airth.
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The Mistress of Shenstone 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 Mistress of Shenstone
by Florence L. Barclay · 1910
A grieving wife hides her title in Cornwall, and a tall stranger climbs a cliff with her to beat the tide.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“Peter knew, and refused his food because Michael was dead.”
In short
What would you think if a little white dog seemed to know before anyone else that his master was dead? That is where The Mistress of Shenstone begins, on a damp November afternoon in a quiet English country house.
The Mistress of Shenstone at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 45 min3 h fast, 4 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 54,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1910by Florence L. Barclay
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 telegram arrives on the Shenstone terrace
The story opens at three o'clock on a damp afternoon in early November. Myra, Lady Ingleby, paces the terrace of Shenstone Park in a long cloak. Her husband, Lord Ingleby, is far away at a border war, and she has had no word for weeks. Her only company is his tiny white poodle, Peter, who runs restless circles around her feet.
Then a footman hurries out with a telegram on a silver tray. The message only asks for a bed for the night from Sir Deryck Brand, the famous nerve specialist. Myra is glad, because she has been very lonely, and in a few brisk orders she readies the house for him.
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A grieving wife hides her title in Cornwall, and a tall stranger climbs a cliff with her to beat the tide.
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Details
- First published
- 1910
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 198 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 198 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 322 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 322 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives Tue 1 Dec to Mon 7 Decto United States, printed for you at cost
For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Barclay, Florence L. The Mistress of Shenstone. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-mistress-of-shenstone.
Barclay, F. L. (2026). The mistress of Shenstone. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-mistress-of-shenstone (Original work published 1910)
Barclay, Florence L. The Mistress of Shenstone. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-mistress-of-shenstone.
@book{barclay2026mistress,
author = {Barclay, Florence L.},
title = {The Mistress of Shenstone},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-mistress-of-shenstone},
note = {First published 1910}
}
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What is The Mistress of Shenstone about?
It follows Myra, Lady Ingleby, a young widow who goes to Cornwall under another woman's name for a rest cure. There she meets Jim Airth, falls in love on a cliff ledge, and must face what her hidden name means.
Who is Jim Airth?
Jim Airth is a tall, plain-spoken traveler and writer staying at the Moorhead Inn. He whistles like a blackbird, wears a loose Norfolk jacket, and has spent years abroad. He saves Myra when the tide traps her.
Why does Myra use the name Mrs. O'Mara?
Her doctor, Sir Deryck Brand, tells her to leave Lady Ingleby behind for her rest cure. She borrows the name of her old maid, Margaret O'Mara, so nobody in the village will know who she is.
The author
Florence L. Barclay
1862–1921 · English romance novelist
Florence L. Barclay was an English novelist whose romance The Rosary became one of the runaway bestsellers of the early twentieth century, translated into many languages and beloved for its tenderness and faith. She wrote a string of popular romances, but none matched its success.
“Peter knew, and refused his food because Michael was dead.”
More by Florence L. Barclay
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