The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

There's a mysterious new tenant at Wildfell Hall and all of the town is talking about her. Helen, we are told, is a young and beautiful widow with a young son. Neighbor Gilbert Markham meets Helen and her son and is immediately enchanted with them both, but Helen is oddly elusive. Slowly, Gilbert learns Helen's secrets and the whole story is revealed.

Oh my. Helen made a poor choice early on, against the wishes of her aunt, and she had to pay the price of her poor decisions. Back in the early 1800s, the price a woman had to pay for making a poor choice was absurdly high; there really were no good ways to get out of a bad decision.

It's a story that's a heartbreaking one.