Child Bride

Set in the segregated American South of the mid-twentieth century, the story follows Nell, who at fourteen dreams of a life of her own in a society that limits what women can do. At sixteen, she is handed over in marriage and taken north to Boston as a bride.

Nell is a reserved young woman who has to learn, almost overnight, how to be a wife and mother. The unfamiliar customs of the North demand new skills from her, and her marriage to Henry asks even more. He is controlling and treats her cruelly through emotional abuse.

After three children, Nell's health starts to decline. Henry, worried about her, pulls back from physical closeness, and the loss of intimacy leaves her open to another man. A chance meeting with Charles in the church kitchen, at a moment of deep vulnerability, offers her a way out of her dispiriting life with Henry, but it comes at a cost: she becomes pregnant.

When Charles learns that the child is his, he seems ready to leave Nell. In the end, however, his love for her draws him back.