Astrea: Or the Bridal Day (1862)

Astrea: Or The Bridal Day is a novel written by Emma Dorothy E. Nevitte Southworth and published in 1862. The story revolves around the life of Astrea, a young woman who is forced to marry a man she does not love. Astrea's father, a wealthy merchant, arranges her marriage to a man named Romaine, who is also wealthy but is known to be cruel and abusive. Despite her reservations, Astrea agrees to the marriage to save her family from financial ruin.On the day of her wedding, Astrea discovers that Romaine is already married and has a child. Shocked and devastated, she decides to flee and start a new life. She meets a kind and handsome man named Maurice, who helps her escape and offers her a job as a governess for his young daughter.As Astrea settles into her new life, she finds herself falling in love with Maurice. However, their happiness is short-lived as Romaine discovers Astrea's whereabouts and tries to take her back by force. With the help of Maurice and her friends, Astrea must fight to protect herself and those she loves from Romaine's wrath.The novel explores themes of love, betrayal, and the struggle for independence in a patriarchal society. It is a gripping tale of a woman's fight for freedom and the obstacles she must overcome to achieve it.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.