Description
Title: Melissa
Author: Taylor Caldwell
Publisher: Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York
Year: 1948
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Format: Hardcover with original $3.00 dust jacket
Condition: Fine in Near Fine dust jacket; original price intact; jacket bright with slight edge wear and now protected in archival Brodart; binding firm; pages clean with light, even age toning.
Summary
Melissa by Taylor Caldwell tells the story of Melissa Austen, a young woman torn between duty and desire in the turbulent social landscape of early America. Set against a backdrop of wealth, privilege, and deeply buried secrets, Melissa finds herself entangled in a web of conflicting emotions and family obligations. Caldwell crafts a compelling narrative that explores themes of love, ambition, and resilience, vividly bringing Melissa's inner struggles and the challenges of her era to life. With rich characterizations and a penetrating look at societal expectations, Melissa is a timeless tale that showcases Caldwell's mastery of historical storytelling.
Taylor Caldwell (1900–1985) was one of the most widely read American novelists of the mid-twentieth century, known for her psychologically driven historical and social fiction. Published during the rise of her national prominence, Melissa reflects her signature exploration of moral conflict, ambition, and the emotional costs of social expectation. Early Scribner first editions from this period document Caldwell at the height of her narrative influence and remain important examples of postwar American literary publishing.
