Anthony Hope 
A Servant of the Public (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) 

This 1905 novel features a talented young actress, Ora Pinsent, who leads a life of superficial pleasures.  When she falls in love with Ashley Mead, a young barrister, she has a chance at something more.  ‘One seldom meets in fiction a character drawn with such sympathy, such insight, such delicate and persuasive art, ‘ said the
New York Times.

Circa l’autore

Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933), who published under the name Anthony Hope, was a prolific English novelist and playwright.  His best-known works are the swashbuckling adventures Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and its sequel, Rupert of Hentzau (1898).  Knighted in 1918 for his wartime service with the Ministry of Information, his autobiography Memories and Notes appeared in 1927.