Calvary Alley

Nance Molloy lived with Mr. and Mrs. Snawdor, her step-father and step-mother, in Calvary Alley, near the cathedral. The book tells how she grew up, how she became successively a "finisher' of pants, a factory hand, a companion to an old lady, a chorus girl, a stenographer, and a trained nurse, and how she fell in love with one of the two men who cared most for her -- Dan Lewis, the factory hand, and "Mac" Clarke, whose father owned the bottle factory. Two old men who influence her life are Uncle Jed, her self-appointed guardian, and old Mr. Demorest, who play the violin and taught Nance to dance.

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Once in a great while one runs across a truly vital heroine in fiction -- a girl who lives and moves like a real being. Such a heroine is the main character of "Calvery Alley", Nance Molloy.