AustLit

'There is no joy in Helen Merling's household, no love. Her mother cowers to her severe and controlling father, and Helen tried to follow suit. But she yearns to be loved and made to feel special. When she meets an actor - whose profession is a common and disgusting to her father - on the way home from market one day, Helen is swept off her feet. She soon succumbs to this handsome young man's charms, but Robert Perriman is nothing but a cheating philanderer. Pergnancy and marriage follow swiftly, with the door of the family home closed to Helen for ever. Will Helen suffer a lifetime of drudgery as the deceitful, vicious Perriman gambles away their savings? Or will she find the love she's always searched for?' - from author's website.