The Bride's House

The Bride's House by Dawn Powell is a story of a family destroyed by lust and adultery. The ironically named Truelove family is made of people longing for what/who they don't have. None of them finds contentment or fulfillment in the marriage he or she has.

Sophie Truelove, the 22-year-old daughter of the family, longs for a husband who will meet all her desires and needs. She finds such a man in Lynn Hamilton. At the same time, she finds herself attracted to Jerome Gardiner, a married man and infamous philanderer.

Sophie marries Lynn, hoping that marriage will "save" her from Jerome. When Lynn has to travel for business reasons Sophie meets Jerome - not once, but often. Their affair is discovered and disclosed. Sophie, pregnant with Lynn's child, leaves Lynn and her home and travels across the country to Jerome. He promises to divorce his wife and have no more other women, to marry Sophie and be true to her.

Even as he speaks the promises of faithfulness to Sophie, he's thinking of other women he desires.

It's a sad story that brutally depicts the unhappy ending of an adulterous affair.