A Collar of Jewels — Pamela Pope

A new life - but can you ever really leave the past behind...?

Ellie Berman is so relieved when she arrives in Southampton with her son, William, and husband, Max. When Max leaves Ellie to sort out the necessary immigration papers, Ellie is not concerned about waiting in a new country by herself. Why would she worry? But when Max fails to return and Ellie finds out that he has boarded the ship returning to America, she is beyond disbelief.

Born into a wealthy family, Ellie is used to a life of luxury. Her English-born parents left England to live in Chicago, where she was raised. Life was idyllic, until a terrible train accident changes her fate forever. Meeting Max was the best thing that had ever happened to Ellie, but her father, President of the Union Atlantic Railroad Company, was absolutely against her desire to wed Max, the son of Russian Jews. But Ellie, as the youngest child and only girl, was used to getting her way. And marry Max, she did, despite the knowledge that she'd be living a life that was far below what she was used to.

Desperate and penniless, Ellie seeks out her grandfather, Sir Robert Cromer, who still lives in England. She'd heard a lot about him from her mother when she recalled her own childhood home. Ellie was certain he wouldn't turn away his granddaughter, and she was looking forward to returning to her usual standards of living. Her anger at Max's deception now made him a thing of the past, or so she wanted to believe.

Sir Cromer isn't at all what Ellie is expecting. Coming to terms with her discovery, along with Oliver Devlin's cunning, Ellie finds herself hardening. She must make things work, if only for the sake of her young son. Never again will she be at the mercy of a man…

Pamela Pope dominated historical romance in the 1980s, writing a number of bestsellers, including The Magnolia Siege and The Candleberry Tree.