The Typewriter Girl
Betsey Dobson’s career as a typewriter girl comes to an abrupt end after a run-in with a lecherous junior clerk. With no letter of reference and no money to pay the fare, she boards a train that will take her from London to Idensea, where she has a vague hope of a job. Fortunately, John Jones, a Welsh engineer with the Idensea Pier and Seaside Pleasure Building Company, puts her to work managing excursions. Betsey turns out to be a shrewd businesswoman, but the excursion scheme isn’t popular with the company’s owner, Sir Alton, who doesn’t like the idea of daytrippers mucking up his posh resort. Nor does Sir Alton care for the nearly completed pleasure railway that John is constructing. Theiralliance against Sir Alton helps stir up the attraction John and Betsey feel, but her old London lover and his near-engagement to a wealth heiress complicate matters. Readers should like Betsey, a feisty heroine who stands up for herself. The other characters and the book’s setting will also appeal. --Mary Ellen Quinn