J. M. Barrie 
What Every Woman Knows 

Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937), best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan, was a Scottish author and dramatist whose works have enjoyed frequent revivals in film and on stage. One of his most popular plays, ‘What Every Woman Knows’, enjoyed immediate success on both the London and New York stages. The Wylies, an uneducated but well-to-do Scottish family, acknowledges the fact that their charmless daughter, Maggie, may never be married. Arrangements are made to wed Maggie to John Shand, a young student at the University, in exchange for funds to complete his education. Although John’s career quickly advances, due largely to Maggie’s cunning machinations, his pride eventually leads him away from his loveless marriage and toward the lovely aristocrat, Lady Sybil Tenterden. Readers will love Barry’s humor and dramatic irony in this realistic tale that delves seriously into the complexities of modern relationships, and reinforces the idea that behind every successful man is a great woman.