A Broken Blossom by Florence Marryat

Florence Marryat's A Broken Blossom begins with a searing portrait of bereavement as Hilda Marsh, newly orphaned, sits amid the familiar rooms that now feel hostile and strange. Her mother was not only her parent but her closest companion, and Hilda's memories of their shared life, their modest plans, and her mother's final illness make grief feel intimate, physical, and devastating. When the practical Mr. Warrington arrives, sorrow gives way to hard realities: a small inheritance, no close family, and the need to decide how a vulnerable young woman can survive alone. He proposes refuge with Reverend Horace Lovett's household in the foreign town of St. Pucelle, and Hilda gradually seizes on the move as a possible escape from the emptiness of Norwood. Before she leaves, however, Charlie Sandilands comes to offer sympathy and, with painful tenderness, reveals his love. Hilda rejects his proposal and prepares to confess a hidden truth that makes marriage impossible. In St. Pucelle, she finds a warm, eccentric, tightly knit family, especially the lovely Angela Lovett, and begins to glimpse the possibility of healing in a world shaped by affection, duty, and moral seriousness. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.