Like her aunt Isabella Alden, Grace Livingston Hill often shared her novels with the public by publishing them in magazines prior to finalizing them in book form.
In 1929 one of her stories appeared as a serial in Good Stories magazine under the title “The Spirit of Steel.” You can see it listed on the magazine’s cover below:
One of the great advantages of having her stories published in magazines first, is that the magazines often employed artists to illustrate scenes from the story. Here’s one of the illustrations from Grace’s story “The Spirit of Steel,” depicting the two main characters meeting for lunch:
But when Grace published the story as a book, she changed the name of the story from “The Spirit of Steel” to something else.
Using the hints below, see if you can guess the name Grace gave the story when it was published as a hardback book in 1929.
Hint #1
Carol, the heroine of the story, works as a secretary in a construction firm.
Hint #2
When her boss falls ill on the eve of an important business trip to a construction site, Carol takes his place.
Hint #3
The story takes a suspenseful turn when Carol realizes she’s being followed by two men as she travels by train to the construction site.
Hint #4
Upon arriving at the construction site, Carol decides that her first order of business is to fire the handsome and attractive job foreman. There’s just one problem: he refuses to be fired!
Can you guess the name of the beloved Grace Livingston Hill novel that was originally called “The Spirit of Steel”?
Answer:
Grace renamed the book Duskin when it was published as a hardback book in 1929.
If you guessed the right novel from these few hints, congratulations! You’re a GLH expert!
If you haven’t read Duskin yet, you can read it for free on your computer or Kindle reader. Just click here to begin reading!
Isabella Alden 
Who else is disappointed sometimes when graces books end right after the wedding?! I came across “according to the pattern” and loved it cause it’s talking of a husband wife relationship. Not just two folks falling in love and then the story ends 😄. Are there any more books like that that she writes?
Diane, I apologize for the delay in posting your comment; I had a family emergency that took me out of town for a few days.
But you asked a good question! The majority of GLH’s novels end right after the main characters say “I do.” I’ll take a look to see if I can identify any stories that continue on after the wedding ceremony. In the meantime, have you read “Partners”? At about the half-way point of the story Dale and Rand decide to marry, but I can’t remember if they marry right away, or if they have to wait. Either way it’s a good story, especially because they start out as two people who could not be more at odds.
Readers, do you know of any GLH stories where she gave us glimpses into the married lives of her hero and heroine? —Jenny