''The Gown of Glory'' is a 1952 novel by the American writer

Agnes Sligh Turnbull Agnes Sligh Turnbull (October 14, 1888, New Alexandria, Pennsylvania – January 31, 1982, Livingston, New Jersey) was a bestselling United States, American writer, most noted for her works of historical fiction based in her native Western Penn ...

(1888–1982). It is set in a fictional rural village of Ladykirk, which is much like the author's birthplace of

New Alexandria, Pennsylvania New Alexandria is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 560 at the 2010 census. Settled in 1760 along the banks of the Historic Loyalhanna Creek, this community began as a wagon rest stop for travelers, ...

, about thirty miles east of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Plot

The story begins in 1881 when the Reverend David Lyall brings his new wife from the city to his rural manse expecting to stay only a year. Twenty-five years and three grown children later, David is still the spiritual leader of the Calvinist congregation. The plot explores the small joys and quiet griefs of a minister's life as well as what happens when a wealthy young man falls in love with the minister's daughter.

References

* * 1952 American novels Novels set in Pennsylvania Houghton Mifflin books {{1950s-novel-stub