Ceremony of the Innocent
by Taylor Caldwell
***New York Times Bestseller: The quest for the American Dream*** soars to new heights in this coming-of-age story of a young woman and her country. Living with her aunt in poor, rural Preston, Pennsylvania, ***thirteen-year-old Ellen Watson loves books and music and is completely oblivious to her own beauty.*** But her extraordinary looks arouse envy and malice in the female townspeople--and lust in the males. Hired as a housemaid in the palatial home of the village mayor, **Ellen soon catches the attention of his son, Jeremy Porter, who captures her heart in turn. He offers to send her to school, and four years later he proposes marriage.**
As the years pass, Ellen's life parallels the hopes, dreams, and fears of a no-longer innocent nation. As America's enemies gather, Ellen must face her own demons. The wife of the scion of a powerful political family, ***she has everything she could ever desire: security, children, and a successful, adoring husband. But when tragedy rips her life apart, Ellen will be forced to confront some terrible truths about her marriage, her family, and herself.*** Played out against the backdrop of early twentieth-century America, Ceremony of the Innocent intertwines Ellen's personal journey with America's emergence from the devastation of World War I.
**It raises vital questions, such as: Are we as good as we believe we are? And is faith enough to keep us moving forward even in the face of unimaginable loss? Some explicit descriptions of sex**--LibraryThing***