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040			_aUtSlPG
041		7	_aen _2iso639-1
050		4	_aPS
100	1		_aSouthworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte, _d1819-1899
245	1	4	_aThe deserted wife
264		1	_aSalt Lake City, UT : _bProject Gutenberg, _c2025
300			_a1 online resource : _bmultiple file formats
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_acomputer _bc _2rdamedia
338			_aonline resource _bcr _2rdacarrier
500			_aRelease date is 2025-07-29
508			_aRichard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
520			_aThe Deserted Wife by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth is a novel written in the mid-19th century. It opens with a sharp critique of hasty marriage and easy divorce, then moves into a domestic drama set in Maryland’s fading planter world. The story centers on gentle, steadfast Sophie Churchill, who raises her orphaned niece on a decayed estate, becomes close to the kindly Emily May, and draws the troubling attention of the new minister, John Huss Withers. Themes of duty, temptation, and social judgment loom, hinting at betrayal and peril ahead. The opening of the novel combines an essay on the causes of unhappy marriages—defective moral and physical education, lax social discipline, and premature unions—with a vivid setup: the ruin of Heath Hall and the proud, impoverished Churchill line. Sophie, left to rear little Hagar with only an ancient servant, finds solace in the friendship of Rev. Senex May and his young wife, Emily; plans to unite their households end abruptly with the old pastor’s sudden death. His successor, the austere John Huss Withers, exerts an icy, magnetic presence that unsettles Sophie, culminating in a tense ride to church and a mysterious apparition in the woods. Back at Heath Hall, a desperate fugitive slave invades the house; Withers subdues him, but Sophie secretly frees the man and aids his escape. Withers then begins visiting Sophie, probing her mind and loneliness with cool, philosophical talk of “ennui” and purpose, while his personal interest becomes unmistakable. The section closes with his intimate address and Sophie’s wary withdrawal, foretelling conflict. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534			_pOriginally published: _cNew York: D. Appleton, 1850
653			_aAmerican fiction -- 19th century
653			_aMaryland -- Fiction
856	4		_uhttps://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89104490966
856	4	0	_uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76591
999			_c117316 _d117316