Sarah Elizabeth Forbush Downs was a "dime novelist" from the United States. She wrote novels under her own name, as "Mrs. Georgie Sheldon", and as "Mrs. George Sheldon Downs".
Biography
Downs was born June 5, 1843, in Wrentham, Massachusetts. Her parents were Edwin A. Forbush and Malvina F. Forbush. She received her education at the Ladies' Collegiate Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1868, she married George Sheldon Downs. She used a form of his name as a pseudonym in much of her writing. Her career began with newspaper contributions in 1869. She was signed by Theodore Dreiser to write for his Smith's Magazine. Dreiser considered her to be one of the "three most popular authors in the world." Between 1880 and 1889, she serialized 47 romances for Street and Smith'sNew York Weekly.
Works
Brownie’s Triumph
Lost – a Pearl : One of the first works that Mrs. Georgie Sheldon published was Lost-A Pearl, also known as A Lost Pearle, and was published in 1883. This story covers the events of a young girl called Margaret Pearle Radcliffe who is engaged to be married to Captain Richard Byrnholm. However, she gives up her happy marriage due to the deceitful ways of Adison Cheatham, her fiancé’s enemy who has damning evidence that will blacken the name of Byrnholm if Pearle does not marry Cheatham. The novel follows Pearle as she quickly separates herself from Cheatham and tries to escape her new husband’s evil glance never forgetting the man she first loved. She journeys far to stay away from his evil and finally resolves the wrong done to Byrnholm. She is able to divorce Cheatham and married Byrnholm in the end. Sheldon’s telling of Pearle’s story is well written and adventurous with elements of suspense, danger, and mystery. Although some might think that it has elements of a soap opera, it is a wonderful book to read.
The Forsaken Bride
Earle Wayne’s Nobility, reprinted by Nabu Press
Two Keys; or, Margaret Houghton’s Heroism, reprinted by Nabu Press
Vergie’s Inheritance, reprinted by Dodo Press
Threads Gathered Up; sequel to Vergie’s Inheritance
Geoffrey’s Victory; or The Double Deception, reprinted by Kessinger
For Love and Honor; sequel to Geoffrey’s Victory, reprinted by Kessinger
His Heart’s Queen, reprinted by Dodo Press
Mona, reprinted by Dodo Press
True Love’s Reward, reprinted by Dodo Press
The Welfleet mystery
Nameless Dell
A Woman’s Faith; sequel to Nameless Dell
Max, A Cradle Mystery
Her Heart’s Victory; a sequel to Max, reprinted by Nabu Press
Wedded by Fate; or, Sister Angela, reprinted by Kessinger
Wild Oats; or, Rising to Honor, reprinted by Tadalique and Company
A Shadowed Happiness; a sequel to Wild Oats, reprinted by Tadalique and Company
Edrie’s Legacy
Marguerite’s Heritage; or, Love After Marriage
How Will it End; sequel to Marguerite's Heritage
Trixy; or, The Shadow of a Crime
Dorothy’s Jewels; or, The Mysterious Monogram
The Masked Bridal, reprinted by Dodo Press
A Hoiden’s Conquest
That Dowdy of a Girl; or, the story of Gertrude Wynn’s Fortunes
