Little Nobody

A Northern journalist visiting New Orleans becomes enchanted by the city's leisure and spectacle, and becomes involved in a scandal after encountering a retired actress and her neglected, unnamed ward. Appalled by the girl's ignorance and mistreatment, he and a local acquaintance resolve to rescue her and confront practical dilemmas about refuge, education, and responsibility. The narrative alternates between vivid depictions of Southern social life—theaters, races, and club society—and intimate scenes of moral outrage and compassion, tracing efforts to transform an abused child through protection, schooling, and personal sacrifice.