The Foolish Virgin Author:Kathleen Norris "I'm sorry, Pamela," Mrs. Broome concluded. "Out all night with Chester Hilliard and then a story about running out of gas, staying in a shack alone. Even if he is Jessy's cousin, she agrees that he cannot be allowed to introduce immortality into Carterbridge. We cannot overlook this episode. You must resign from the Cinderella Club." — So Paula ... more »Raleigh was formally banished from polite (and narrow-minded) Carterbridge society. Pamela-who had been the prettiest, the most popular, the gayest- who had practically run the Cinderellas, their afternoon teas, their dances, their picnics, everything! It was a cruel blow to a girl of twenty, coming as it did just when the Raleighs were about to be forced out of the house they had owned for generations. Pamela found her friends were not so loyal as she had hoped. Invitations did not come. Even a job eluded her, although everyone knew she needed money badly.
When Pam had to take a job as a companion to an old lady at a ranch outside of town, she cried for three nights before getting up courage to face it. The old lady was a delightful character, gruff yet tender, and diabolically clever when she wanted to help anyone. She wanted to help Pam and she did, in a way that caused many an uneasy mind and high pulse in Carterbridge social circles. But only Chester mattered-really mattered-and what Pam herself did about that makes one of the most absorbing stories Kathleen Norris has ever written.« less