User:Teblick/The Winning of Barbara Worth (book)

The Winning of Barbara Worth is a Western novel written by Harold Bell Wright and published in 1911 by The Book Supply Company. The first edition had a press run of 250,000 copies.

Plot
A young child who survives a sandstorm that killed her mother is adopted by Jefferson Worth, a childless bank president. Having no clue to her real identity, he names her Barbara Worth. She grows up to be a "beautiful and accomplished woman with a strong and generous nature" who helps her previously cold, stern father to become kinder and more considerate.

Worth's life is changed with the arrival of Willard Holmes, who represents a company that has plans to irrigate part of the desert around Rubio City. Holmes and Worth fall in love despite strenuous objections from his bachelor guardian. Eventually, work on the project uncovers documents showing that Worth is the daughter of Holmes' uncle.

Stage
The William Morris Agency obtained dramatic rights to the book, and the play was written by Edward Milton Royle. On September 4, 1913, the Klaw and Erlanger company presented the debut production at the Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Edith Lyle had the title role.

Film
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) brought the story to film, with Vilma Dansky as Worth.