, by , depicts life in Italy of the 1800's and early 1900's, where pauperism and affluence resided side by side. During a semester spent in Europe, with Italy as her base, Webster did some research for her thesis titled "Pauperism in Italy." She documented her travels in a column with the Poughkeepsie Sunday Courier and also put together materials for a short story, "Villa Gianini". She later expanded Villa Gianini into a novel, The wheat Princess. The plot is authentic; the descriptions breathtaking and the romance right on point.