Books like Portrait of Emma by Lillian Cheatham

When Emma Ashton is 17, her life has already been marred by the loss of her mother to smallpox and the later suicide of her father, leaving her penniless and alone in a chaotic, post‑Revolutionary American society. Seeking a way forward, she secures a position with the gruff Boston moneylender Silence Southwick, who runs a successful pottery and survived two husbands, the second of whom was a sea captain whose death remains an unresolved mystery. Emma’s time in Southwick’s household gradually pulls her into a tangled web of murder and suspected witchcraft. Her fate hangs in the balance, but she endures the trials and, with the aid of a former suitor who has grown from her past, she ultimately finds her own resilience. The story concludes with Emma’s self‑portrait—a testament to her transformation into a strong and beautiful woman.

First publish date: 1975