The Stolen Marriage

A young woman must unravel her husband's secrets and win over a hostile community in 1940s North Carolina, in this gripping mystery.

A young woman must unravel her husband's secrets and win over a hostile community in 1940s North Carolina, in this gripping mystery.

'Fans of Jodi Picoult's style will love how Diane Chamberlain writes' – Candis.

Set in 1940s America, The Stolen Marriage is a compelling mystery novel about a young woman trapped in her marriage. From Diane Chamberlain, the bestselling author of The Silent Sister and The Last House on the Street.

In 1944, Tess DeMello abruptly ends her engagement to the love of her life, marries a mysterious stranger and moves to Hickory, North Carolina. Her new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night – and Tess quickly comes to realize that she is now trapped in a strange and loveless marriage.

The people of Hickory love and respect Henry and see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain. What does everyone know about Henry that she does not?

When a polio epidemic strikes the town, taking the lives of some of its children, the townspeople band together to quickly build a polio hospital. Tess, who has a nursing degree, bucks Henry’s wishes and begins to work at the hospital.

As Henry’s actions grow more baffling and alarming by the day, can Tess untangle her husband’s mysterious behaviour – and save her own life?

'I love Diane's writing' – Cathy Kelly, author of The Year That Changed Everything