This is escape literature at its nineteenth-century best, with a woman at its center who makes you feel strong, daring, and reckless. Originally serialized in the New York Ledger (1859, 1868-69, 1883) First published in book form New. The pace is fast, the action wonderfully unbelievable. There are bandits, true-loves, evil men, long-lost mothers, and sweet women friends in Capitola’s future – not to mention thunder storms, kidnap attempts, and duels.

Unknown to her, Capitola has a very rich elderly guardian who finds her at a providential moment and takes her back to his palatial mansion where she finds herself “decomposing above ground for want of having my blood stirred.” But not to fear.

When we first meet sharp and witty Capitola she is living among beggars and street urchins, and dressed as a boy because a boy can get work and be safe, whereas a girl is left to starve for want of “proper” employment.

Southworth was one of the most popular and prolific writers of the nineteenth century and her Capitola Black, or Black Cap – a cross-dressing, adventure-seeking girl-woman – was so well-loved that the book was serialized three times between 18 and was dramatized in forty different versions. You can read this before The Hidden Hand PDF full Download at the bottom.Į.D.E.N. Southworth which was published in May 1st 1988. Here is a quick description and cover image of book The Hidden Hand written by E.D.E.N.

The Hidden Hand by E.D.E.N. Southworth