Elizabeth Visits America
1909
In 1909, a woman leaving her husband to travel alone across America was genuinely transgressive. Elizabeth, recently quarreled with Lord Valmond (who has stormed off to Africa), finds herself at her great aunt Maria's manor, bored and bristling against English convention. Then comes the news of Aunt Maria's first automobile, and suddenly the ridiculousness of English society colliding with this new mechanical age sparks something in Elizabeth. She escapes to America with her friend Octavia, and what follows is a sharp, often funny examination of two cultures through the eyes of a woman learning to trust her own judgment. Through letters to her mother, we watch Elizabeth encounter American directness, industrial speed, and an intriguing gentleman who treats her as an equal rather than a ornament. Glyn, who coined the word 'It,' understood that liberation often comes through displacement. This is a charming period piece about one woman's quiet rebellion.
