Hilda

In colonial Calcutta, where fading streets, drawing-room wit, and missionary zeal collide, Hilda: A Story of Calcutta follows women and men caught between worldly ambition and spiritual calling. The novel opens with the austere Salvation Army worker Laura Filbert, whose bare feet, plain dress, and fierce devotion unsettle the elegant actress Hilda Howe and the men who admire her. Around Hilda, conversations about acting, mimicry, class, money, and artistic individuality expose the emotional costs of talent, dependence, and desire, while her exchanges with Duff Lindsay and Alicia Livingstone crackle with attraction, rivalry, and unspoken feeling. Stephen Arnold, meanwhile, grows troubled by Laura's place in a world of romance and wealth, fearing that love may draw her from her mission. On shipboard, Laura faces her deepest trial and renounces worldly ornaments in a dramatic act of sacrifice, while Hilda herself moves toward a fragile awakening, balancing loneliness, self-knowledge, and the possibility of love. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.