The Actress: A Martha Beale Novel

The Actress takes readers to Victorian-era Philadelphia with a tale of political machinations, revenge and murder. When Becky Grey Taitt's abusive husband threatens to divorce her and keep their child, she agrees to infiltrate a gang of counterfeiters in exchange for the aid of powerful jurist, Alonzo Craig. After the judge's scheme miscarries, Becky is trapped in a lethal criminal underworld while her friend Martha Beale and Martha's beau, Thomas Kelman, struggle to rescue her. Praise for Cordelia Frances Biddle and the Martha Beale Series: "An intricately orchestrated narrative that implicates the Brahmin class and the corruption that comes with their absolute power. Biddle wonderfully evokes the color and culture of the time." Publishers Weekly"Fresh and believable. Biddle knows her manner and her city, and shows both to great advantage." Cleveland Plain Dealer "The setting is unfolded as vividly as the characters, from the "commoners" working the textile mills to the unseemly criminal types of the upper-crust elite. A fine mix of history and mystery." Booklistwww.CordeliaFrancesBiddle.com

Author: Cordelia Frances Biddle
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 12/14/2015
Pages: 444
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 7.99h x 5.24w x 0.99d
ISBN13: 9781517622770
ISBN10: 1517622778
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Mystery & Detective | Historical

About the Author
Cordelia Frances Biddle is an independent scholar and author. Her novels in the Martha Beale series are: The Actress, Without Fear, Deception's Daughter and The Conjurer. All are set during the Victorian era in Philadelphia and explore women's issues and the chasm between wealth and poverty. A prior work, Beneath the Wind, examined colonialism during the Gilded Age. Her nonfiction Saint Katharine: The Life of Katharine Drexel chronicled the extraordinary ministry and vision of social justice advocate and educator, Katharine Drexel. Cordelia is currently at work on a biography of financier, Nicholas Biddle. She contributed to St. Peter's Church: Faith in Action for 250 Years. As a journalist, she has written for Town and Country, Hemispheres and W. Cordelia teaches creative writing at Drexel University's Pennoni Honors College. Please visit her website: www.CordeliaFrancesBiddle.com

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