Darker and more daring than Alcott’s best-known novels, Behind a Mask, or A Woman’s Power is a provocative sensation tale about performance, social ambition, and the price of independence.

When Jean Muir enters the Coventry mansion as a seemingly modest young governess, every gesture is part of a carefully calculated performance.
Concealing her true age, profession, and intentions, she gradually wins the family’s confidence and turns affection into rivalry, desire, and obsession.

But the closer Jean comes to wealth and freedom, the more dangerous her deception becomes-and soon the entire household is caught in the intricate drama she has created.