Anne Pearson

Martha Rigby, a spinster of thirty-five, is a nondescript and somewhat timid creature. Not in the least venturesome, she is an honest-living woman whom until now has seen very little excitement in her life.

Martha is the youngest of three, alongside her sister Ruth (two years older) and late brother Aaron (four years older). Their father had been a vicar who brought up his family to be God-fearing Christians.

Martha’s spinsterhood is about to end through a betrothal to Jim, a man a number of years her senior. However, events do not work out as expected and this once-timid woman begins doing things that she had never believed herself capable of.

It is fortunate indeed for Martha that her parents are no longer alive to witness what their daughter has become, as these are dark, ungodly things far removed from her strict upbringing.

Yet who are we to judge? Martha would, of course, claim that everything she has done is surely for the best…