Mistress Wilding Author:Rafael Sabatini Mistress Wilding was first published in 1910 with the title Arms and the Maid or Anthony Wilding. The title was later changed for the American publication. The book has an excellent plot filled with bits of bright humor and historical accuracy. The Protestant rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth against James II is the setting. For much of the book... more » the reader is not totally sure who will be the hero and who the villain....
Mistress Wilding begins: Then drink it thus, cried the rash young fool, and splashed the contents of his cup full into the face of Mr. Wilding even as that gentleman, on his feet, was proposing to drink to the eyes of the young fool's sister.
After a brief stint in the business world, Sabatini went to work as a writer. He wrote short stories in the 1890s, and his first novel came out in 1902. It took Sabatini roughly a quarter of century of hard work before he attained success with Scaramouche in 1921. This brilliant novel of the French Revolution became an international bestseller. It was followed by the equally successful Captain Blood in 1922. A prolific writer, he produced about a book a year.« less