Courtship in Purgatory: A Novel

Set in the conservative French—speaking community of Sagamore Falls, a fictional New Hampshire mill town, Courtship in Purgatory portrays parental control over middle—aged offspring in an upper—middle—class family. When protagonist Victoria discovers a disturbing entry in her deceased father’s journal, she relives a painful episode dating back a quarter—century, from which she had healed. At 33, Victoria lived a sheltered existence with her parents. Although she adored them, especially her father—she worshipped the water he walked on—she hoped to marry Lucien, whose working—class status did not measure up to her parents’ standards. Consequently, her father separated the lovers via a secret plot that threatened to smear Lucien’s image in Victoria’s eyes. Caught between the two men she loved, she wondered: Should she follow her conscience by obeying her father? Or should she follow her heart without knowing if Lucien was the morally upstanding man he appeared to be?