PLAYAWAY: It's the summer of 1907 and the sun is scorching down on Mary Pearl Prine in the Arizona Territory. Mary Pearl and her sister Esther take their minds off the heat by sneaking banned Jane Austen novels from Aunt Sarah Elliot's lively bookshelf. Whispered read-alouds preoccupy their nights, and reveries of getting hitched to their own Mr. Darcy a la Pride and Prejudice swirl through their daydreams. In walks old-fashioned, old-money suitor Aubrey Hanna, there to whisk seventeen-year-old Mary Pearl off her feet with a forbidden kiss and hasty engagement. With the promise of high-society outings and a rich estate, Aubrey's lustful courtship quickly creates petty tension among the three generations of Prine women. As autumn approaches all too quickly, Mary Pearl's Wheaton College acceptance counters quick marriage preparations. Days of travel by horse and by train carry her deep into a sophisticated new world of Northern girls' schooling. Seeking friendship but finding foes, Mary Pearl not only learns how to write, read, and draw but also how to act like, dress like, and be a woman.
