The beautiful Pauline has been wronged and sets about getting a little her own back. Collateral damage ensues in this tale of revenge and it's consequences. "Pauline's Passion and Punishment" is pretty mild stuff if you read it from the perspective of a 21st century reader. It helps to have some idea of what life was like and what was expected of men and women in the 1860s to truly appreciate this story.

Behind a Mask, or A Woman's Power is a novel written by Louisa May Alcott. The story follows Jean Muir, the cunning governess of the rich Coventry family. With skillful manipulation, Jean Muir obtains the love, admiration, and eventually the fortune of the Coventry family. Of all her stories of femme fatales, Woman's Power or Behind a Mask is considered Alcott's chef-d'oeuvre in the genre of sensation fiction.