Girl Alone — Jane Blackmore

Maria came to England as an au pair girl, brimming with enthusiasm for a job which would make her independent of her brutal father. But her new home turned out to be just another prison where even her competence and good looks increased marital discord. Maria turned to her one friend Tom but he too had grown suspicious of her direct manner and odd relationship with his brother Rupert.

Maria felt trapped. On the one hand there were her employers and on the other Rupert and the sophisticated Paula with their secretive designs. Who could she turn to in this strange land? Must she admit defeat and return to Germany?