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The Monster

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About this book

A bridal room overlooking San Diego Bay seems to promise Leilah and Gulian Verplank an idyllic start to married life. Their yacht waits offshore, and they talk of sailing to the Marquesas and Bora-Bora. Then Leilah opens an envelope that appears to come from her father. The three letters inside overturn her happiness, leaving her frightened and desperate to escape before Gulian returns.

The story sets this emotional crisis beside the polished conversation of fashionable society. In crowded salons, guests discuss horses, exchange gossip from the Paris races, and move between music and introductions. Beneath that social ease, Leilah carries the weight of what she has read. The novel offers a contrast between public manners and private anguish, with vivid coastal scenery, charged dialogue, and a threatening image that gives her fear the shape of a monster.

About the author

Edgar Saltus

Edgar Saltus (1855-1921) was an American writer known for elegant, cynical prose and a gloomy philosophy drawn from Schopenhauer. A fixture of literary New York in the Gilded Age, he produced novels, essays, and histories before turning to mysticism late in life.