Marion Marlowe's Courage: A Brave Girl's Struggle for Life and Honor

About this issue

This 1900 weekly for young women features the serial "A Brave Girl's Struggle for Life and Honor" by Grace Shirley, a melodramatic narrative of urban peril and resilience. Twin sisters Dollie and Marion Marlowe, orphaned country girls with nine dollars in savings, occupy a cheap boarding-house room in a great city. Dollie was recently rescued from abduction by Professor Dabroski, a hypnotist; Marion helped secure his imprisonment and also aided a Miss Ray, entrapped by seducer Emile Vorse, to escape. The girls struggle for employment while newspapers publicize their misfortunes. Their landlady, Mrs. Garvin, discovers their identity and orders them out; Marion stands firm, demanding the eight dollars paid in advance. Miss Allyn, a lodger revealed to be a newspaper reporter, intervenes, threatening to expose Garvin's questionable boarders—a detective, rogue, thief, and actresses—unless she treats the girls fairly. The narrative combines sensational crime elements with moral emphasis on female virtue under adversity.

In this issue

• “Marion Marlowe's Courage: or, A Brave Girl's Struggle for Life and Honor” by Grace Shirley · serial · p.3