Alexandra O'Karma

"In this book, an unassuming young heroine finds her life changed overnight when she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome and wealthy widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. Rescuing her from an overbearing employer, de Winter whisks her off to Manderley, his isolated estate on the windswept Cornish coast - but there, things take a chilling turn. Max seems haunted by the memory of his glamorous first wife, Rebecca, whose legacy...

Ruby's most recent boarder is timid schoolteacher Pearl Hossfuss. To avoid an arranged marriage, Pearl deserts her home in Chicago to teach in Little Missouri. Ther she befriends Ruby and falls in love with young carpenter Carl Hegland. But when her father threatens to find her and take her back home, Pearl turns to God for the strength to stand up for herself and follow her heart.