Thurley Ruxton

Philip Verrill Mighels (1869 to 1911) was an American author who wrote novels and short stories. Thurley Ruxton, published in 1911, the year of his death, is one of his later works, and it belongs to the large family of romantic novels about young women making their way into high society in the early twentieth century.

The title heroine is a girl of exceptional beauty and few resources, who finds a patron among the most elegant hostesses in New York. To draw the city's social leaders into her mentor's circle, the fashionable world of Gotham is led to believe that Thurley is a princess in hiding from an arranged marriage. From that premise the novel draws many of its pleasures: scenes of society life, rivalries and friendships, and the moral questions that arise when beauty and ambition become currency.

This is not a famous book, and that is part of its appeal. Listeners who like to explore beyond the classics will find a typical popular romance of its decade, with plenty of period detail and a clear affection for its heroine. The recording runs to fifty short chapters, with a total running time of just over twelve hours, read by a LibriVox volunteer. It is a suitable companion for long drives or quiet evenings, and an invitation to discover a corner of early twentieth century American fiction that is rarely visited today. The pleasure of such a book lies in following a heroine whose fortunes rise and fall, and in watching the social machinery of a great city at work. Mighels writes with a light touch, and the reader keeps the narrative moving.