Ouida 
The Tower of Taddeo (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) 

This 1892 melodrama features an elderly bookseller ruined by the ambitions of his thoughtless son.  The old man is a victim of the greed of others, despite the sacrifices of his saintly daughter, who falls in love with a struggling young artist.

About the author

Ouida (1839-1908), born Maria Louise Ramé, was a prolific English writer of novels for adults and children.  A self-proclaimed “serious artist, ” her works combined social commentary with swashbuckling adventure plots that often veered into melodrama.  After a life as extravagant as her fiction, she died in poverty in Italy.