Mary O'Neill is born to an already too-large family, disliked and then hated by her father. As she grows up, she clashes again and again with her family and church: for release from a marriage gone bad, for a chance at marrying the man she does love, for the legitimacy of the child she has with him. At last she finds some terms of peace, and whether they mark defeat or triumph is in the eye of the beholder.

Author Biography

Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine (1853 - 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Caine's popularity during his lifetime was unprecedented. Writing fifteen novels, he became an international literary celebrity, selling ten million books. Caine was the most highly paid novelist of his day. The Eternal City is the first novel to sell over a million copies worldwide. In addition to his books, Caine is the author of more than a dozen plays and was one of the most commercially successful dramatists of his time; many were West End and Broadway productions.