Synopsis
Life is not quite a fairytale for poor Viola. Left penniless, the young widow is forced to live with her late husband's family in a joyless old house. There's Mr. Wither, a tyrannical old miser; Mrs. Wither, who thinks Viola is just a common shop girl; and two unlovely sisters-in-law, one of whom is in love with the chauffeur.
Only the prospect of the charity ball can raise Viola's spirits especially as Victor Spring, the local prince charming, will be there. But Victor's intentions towards our Cinderella are, in short, not quite honourable.
Stella Dorothea Gibbons was born in London in 1902. She studied journalism at University College, London, and worked for ten years on various papers, including the Evening Standard. Her first novel Cold Comfort Farm (1932) was and remains hugely successful. Stella Gibbons died in 1989...