House of Stevens - Sigh Smith - Bog

Grace Curtis wears her husband Eddie's wedding ring on her finger with pride. It is pride, however, clouded by guilt because of her adultery with someone she hardly knows outside her bedroom. Despite what family and neighbours may think, she is no 'shameless cow' and not particularly good at handling guilt nor as brave as she likes to make out. She has already run away from the house she shared in London with her parents because she couldn't face them finding out what she's been doing and seeing the hurt and disapproval in their eyes. The arrival of an unexpected visitor at Eddie's hospital bedside in Corby gradually forces her to face up to her suspicions about the man she has been sleeping with and to find the strength from somewhere to put right what she has done wrong. Instead of the ending she had hoped for, her act of atonement is so typically reckless it becomes the beginning. It is the beginning of a nightmare that threatens to bury her under an avalanche of guilt, grief and fear. The Prodigal Daughter is the story of Grace's struggle to survive her past.