independence

Born into a world of pastoral simplicity, Bathsheba Everdene was no common country lass. Bold and fiercely independent, she evoked a sense of magnetism that men found hard to resist.

In the glamorous French Riviera, one could always find a vibrant display of wealth and allure, drawn from every corner of the globe. Amongst this sparkling society lived an American couple, Dick and Nicole Diver, who glowed with a particular radiance. Yet, beneath this façade of glamour and opulence, there was an underlying layer of hidden melancholy that slowly started revealing itself.

In the bustling corners of Florence, a young woman named Isabel Archer was embarking on an epoch of self-discovery. Having inherited a fortune, she found herself unchained from the constraints of her earlier life, burdened no more by the expectation of marriage. She was a woman with the freedom of choice that few of her time possessed. This newfound affluence, however, brought with it the insidious lure of exploitation.

Carrie Meeber, a young girl from a small town, stepped off the train in the bustling city of Chicago. She was taken aback; the giant structures, the endless sea of people, the clamor and hustle were unlike anything she had ever experienced. She was a fish out of water, with a burning desire to make a future that was beyond a small-town life.

As the crisp morning air kissed the edges of the wilderness, Sam Gribley awoke to another day of independence on his beloved Catskill Mountain. He stepped out from his home, a hollowed-out tree he affectionately named 'Frightful's home.' In the light of dawn, the mountain flourished, stirring with the murmur of wildlife he had come to know as friends over time. His falcon Frightful, a striking bird of fierce loyalty, was Sam's most treasured companion.

The moonlight gleamed on the cold rough stones of Valparaiso, casting Eliza's shadow long and stark against the wall. Eliza, an adopted orphan, had been raised by the staid Victorian spinster Miss Rose and her brother Jeremy in the bustling town in Chile. But now she was on a quest. A quest for a love that took her lover, Joaquin Andieta, to the far reaches of California, where gold was said to turn men into beasts and dreams into reality.