In the Year of our Lord 1633, Mary Margret Russo graduates from Grantville High School at the top of her class. The beautiful and strong willed up-timer, as the people from the future are called, is mysteriously hired by a branch of the wealthiest family in the world. Mary finds herself far from her family, living in a beautiful castle in the Inn Valley of Tyrol. There she meets Counts, Countesses, the handsome and distant Count Johann Franz, and works hard as a teacher and consultant among the one-percenters of the day.
But all is not what it seems in this gilded world, where religion, undercurrents of witchcraft, and vast sums of money create high-stakes contests, and where treachery and death await the unwary or the unprepared. Can a resolute and intelligent girl find love, happiness, and purpose in this world where she is the ultimate outsider, out of her time, alone, and in dangers she cannot comprehend? Using archetypes, occasional dialog, and story beats from Jane Austen, Up-time Pride and Down-time Prejudice tells the story of Mary Russo, Count Johann Franz Fugger, and Mary’s journey of maturation, knowledge, and love in this 1632 adventure.