The French Wife

Love, hate, hope and pain powerfully intermingle in Diney Costeloe's moving sequel to The Children of the Siege. 1877, St. Etienne: Since the siege of the Communards in Paris six years earlier, Hélène is back in the safety of the family home. She watches as her eldest sister, Clarice, is set to marry the handsome young Lucas Barrineau, son of a wealthy, landowning family. Hélène is now 18 and a future as a wife and mother beckons. But can she overcome the abuse she suffered at the hands of unscrupulous men and finally put her painful past behind her? Annette the orphan, also 18, is running the Clergy House alone after Madame Sauze is released from service. Father Thomas proves to be a dangerous employer and before long, Annette finds herself pregnant with his child. When she is thrown out, the St. Clairs come to her rescue and take her in. Their lives are beset by thwarted love and shattered dreams as Annette and Hélène try to overcome the abuses they suffered during the siege and find happiness.