Carnival

Jenny Pearl works as a dancer when she meets Maurice Avery, a well-off young man who treats art as a pastime. Their romance ends after she turns down his proposal that she become his mistress. Left with little hope, she marries Trewhella, a farmer from Cornwall. The marriage is loveless, and his jealousy grows out of control once Avery returns to her life. The novel first appeared in 1912 and was well received by critics, a success that helped secure Compton Mackenzie's standing among the leading British novelists of his generation. Stage and opera adaptations followed, along with three film versions.