Books like The Essential Wife by Taylor Ryan
Rose Lambe lives a humble life as a dressmaker in the earlyβmodern era, but a desperate need for freedom leads her to accept a marriage of convenience with the elusive lord Geoffrey Wyse. Bound by a social contract designed to elevate her class, Rose faces the rigid expectations of the Ton while uncovering her own will and heart.
Through the tension between duty and desire, the novel explores how society shapes identities and the surprising resilience of a woman determined to carve her own path within the constraints of aristocratic life.
First publish date: 1997
Genre: Historical Fiction/19th Century Historical Fiction
Authors: Taylor Ryan
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