Set in a shabby turn-of-the-century boardinghouse, A Daily Rate follows a young wage-earner whose quiet disciplines-cleanliness, thrift, beauty, and prayer-gradually redeem a demoralized household. Hill blends domestic realism with evangelical melodrama: brisk scenes and conversion moments are offset by shrewd observations of urban labor and female friendship. Rooted in the sentimental tradition yet alert to Progressive Era questions of housing, wages, and reform, the romance becomes a blueprint for communal renewal. Grace Livingston Hill wrote from a devout Presbyterian milieu and an apprenticeship under her aunt, the bestselling "Pansy" (Isabella Macdonald Alden). Prolific and practical, she treated fiction as livelihood and ministry, drawing on Christian Endeavor work and firsthand knowledge of city missions and women's wages to imagine holiness cultivated in ordinary rooms. Recommended for readers of American religious literature, women's domestic narratives, and Progressive Era social history, A Daily Rate rewards close attention to cultural detail while offering accessible moral insight. It is an inviting entry to Hill's oeuvre and a persuasive study of everyday ethics transformed by grace.
Quickie Classics summarizes timeless works with precision, preserving the author's voice and keeping the prose clear, fast, and readable-distilled, never diluted. Enriched Edition extras: Introduction · Synopsis · Historical Context · Brief Analysis · 4 Reflection Q&As · Editorial Footnotes.
