About the book

"Hester: A Story of Contemporary Life, Volume 1 (of 3)" by Mrs. Oliphant is a novel published in 1883. When the Vernon family bank nearly collapses, Catherine Vernon uses her fortune to save it. Decades later, young Hester Vernon returns to Redborough as the daughter of the man who caused the crisis. As Hester navigates family tensions, romantic entanglements, and the weight of her father's disgrace, loyalties shift and Edward, Catherine's favored protégé, grows restless with dangerous consequences for the banking house.

England

Psychological fiction

Young women

Love stories

Domestic fiction

Family-owned business enterprises

Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #48197. Hester on Wikipedia.