Lovels of Arden, The by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835 - 1915)

The novel traces the return of a young Englishwoman from several years of schooling abroad, to find that her life will not take up where she thought it would. Clarissa Lovel faced not only an emotionally and financially bereft father, but her first glimpse at love - and that not from the best vantage point. (Summary by Cathy Barratt)