Hearts Versus Diamonds

This long-forgotten novella of the Victorian era was written by a remarkable woman, Charles E. Conrad's mother-in-law, Catherine Elizabeth Alicia Stanford, née Coggan. Written during lean times after the death of her husband in an attempt to earn a little money to aid in her efforts in supporting her remaining family of three children -- her eldest son having already left the nest and joined the Northwest Mounted Police -- she had a difficult time getting the work into print. Published at last in mid-1878, it provided but a modicum of income to the struggling widow. In her efforts to get the story published, she showed a determination that was not easily turned aside and had stood her in good stead in hard times. Initially serialized in a magazine, she saw it published in book form twenty years later, a testimony to her determination. Hearts Versus Diamonds is a simple story and the product of its times. The plot is not overly complex, and revolves around the usual problems the heroine has in obtaining her one true love. It is not great literature by any means, but it is a pleasant story. Semi-autobiographical to some extent, it is deserving of preservation for the insight it gives into the mind of the woman who wrote it. Here is an aspect of the extended Conrad family never seen before, a peek past the usual story and into a little-known corner of the life of C. E. Conrad's mother-in-law.The Introduction provides a short biography of the author and relates also the trials and tribulations she encountered in her efforts to achieve publication, both as a magazine serial and as a printed book twenty one years later. Full color plates of the magazine and the book are also included. Read more