A brilliant romantic novel that traces the generational pulls of love and fidelity At seventeen, Ellen Melville&’s life is filled with passion for the suffrage movement, her mother, and Edinburgh, if not romance. Then Richard Yaverland, a successful older man, enters her life. Haunted by his own illegitimacy, Richard wants to avert the pain that left his mother a bitter woman even as he kindles a passionate romance. As Ellen and Richard tentatively try on the roles of lovers, the spark of a new relationship will inspire the people around them to consider their own connections. As West&’s clever and enchanting heroine falls in love, she inspires the reader to reflect on the different ways that love can change the course of our lives, for better or worse.
