Lady Anna

When her husband suddenly declares that he already has a wife, the Countess Lovel, who married him for status and wealth rather than love, is forced to spend her whole life trying to defend her claim to her title and the legitimacy of her daughter Anna, for whom she is determined to secure a highly advantageous marriage. However, much to her mother's horror, the young heroine - Lady Anna - has fallen in love with a journeyman tailor. The novel is a powerful and intense exploration of Anna's struggles to somehow reconcile her own desires with her duty to her social class, and more broadly, an examination of class differences, and cultural and social mobility. The topic was not a popular one in 1874 and the novel was not initially well received.