| In 1899, Olympia is a 15 year old girl vacationing with her parents at their summer home in Fortune's Rocks, New Hampshire. Her family is well-to-do and her very protective father assumes personal responsibility for her education. Rather than let her go to school with other kids, Olympia's father assigns books for her to read and they discuss them together at home. At their summer home, her parents entertain a number of distinguished guests. Early in the summer, Olympia's father invites Dr. John Haskell to dinner. Haskell is there to help the poor factory workers of nearby Ely Falls. He is 41 and married to a beautiful and admirable woman. She visits him on the weekends with their four children, who range from 3 to 12 years of age.
Immediately after they meet, Olympia and Haskell become obsessed with each other. They have an affair that summer, but it all comes to a terrible and dramatic end in August at a gala that Olympia's parents are holding at their house in honor of her 16th birthday. In the aftermath of the break up, Olympia's parents whisk her back to their house in Boston, and she has no communication with Haskell. She soon learns that she is pregnant with his child. Her father insists that she give up the baby when it is born and forces her to attend a teacher's college. Olympia does as her father demands, but 3 years into her education at the college, she runs away and moves back into the house at Fortune's Rocks. By now, her father has forgiven her and feels remorse for how harshly he had treated her. She learns that her son was brought to the orphanage at Ely Falls, and hopes to get him back. She learns that he was given to foster parents and they are basically raising him like a son, but without having legally adopting him. There is a big custody battle, at the end of which, Haskell reappears. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - very sensitive (sigh) Time/era of story - 1900-1920's Romance/Romance Problems Yes Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Pregnancy/Child rearing Yes Major part of story: Lover is Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - a teen Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 3 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - impregnation/reproduction - actual description of hetero sex |
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