The characteristic themes of Cather’s mature work are already present in her debut novella, an evocation of a tragic love triangle.   Bartley Alexander, renowned engineer of bridges, is a man with a past who “looked as a tamer of rivers ought to look.” Discovered by his mentor “sowing wild oats in London,” he returned to America and the commission that made his name. Now, married to his wife of ten years, a chance encounter with actress Hilda Burgoyne, an almost forgotten love from his past, prompts a doomed attempt to recapture the boundlessness of his youth. *** This is a  Hybrid Book . Melville House HybridBooks combine print and digital media into an enhanced reading experience by including with each title additional curated material called  Illuminations  — maps, photographs, illustrations, and further writing about the author and the book. The Melville House Illuminations are free with the purchase of any title in the HybridBook series, no matter the format. Purchasers of the print version can obtain the Illuminations for a given title simply by scanning the QR code found in the back of each book, or by following the url also given in the back of the print book, then downloading the Illumination in whatever format works best for you. Purchasers of the digital version receive the appropriate Illuminations automatically as part of the ebook edition.

Electronic reproduction. New York : Melville House, 2012. Requires the Libby app or a modern web browser.