Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers Of Louisa May Alcott

Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers Of Louisa May Alcott by Alcott, Louisa May. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780688003388.

Six years before she wrote Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, in financial straits, entered "Paulines Passion and Punishment," a novelette, in a newspaper contest. Not only did it win the $100 prize, but, published anonymously, it marked the first in the series of "blood & thunder tales" that would be her livelihood for years. In Behind a Mask, editor Madeleine Stern introduces four Alcott thrillers: "Paulines Passion and Punishment," "The Mysterious Key," "The Abbots Ghost," and the title story, "Behind a Mask." First published in one volume in 1975, they are regarded as Alcotts finest work in this genre.