By Elena Greene
Lady Catherine resolves to escape from her bullying father by running away with a rake. Instead her plan is thwarted and she is exiled from London and sent to live with her maiden great-aunts in the Lake District. Here she is surprised to find herself attracted to Philip Woodmere, a country gentleman, but feels she cannot marry him if he ever finds out the secrets of her past.
Severity reflects intensity, not value — “central theme” means a warning is a core part of the book, not that the book is bad.