Isn’t it curious that Hearst’s synopsis of the serial novel claims that Marion’s mother is a “Frenchwoman” when the first instalment begins with Marion’s mother’s foreignness being whispered about by French Montrealers? But perhaps it’s unsurprising; this was the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act and fierce prejudice against the Chinese, and Marion, after all, is our beautiful heroine! You would never know, reading this instalment, that the route taken across the border by the “real” Marion—Winnifred Eaton’s sister Sara Eaton Bosse—was fraught with danger, or that her beau’s reluctance to marry her had to do with anything more than her financial status! (Written by Karen Skinazi)