Lily Becker is born in Paradise, Iowa and raised there by her prudish mother and her spineless father. Mrs Becker pressures Lily into marrying local yokel Albert Penny, who is extremely dull……

The story of British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and the purchase by England of the Suez Canal.

The mother of a large family is abandoned by her children and faces consignment to the poorhouse. But one of her offspring, the one no one had faith in, returns to rescue her.