Secret Madness : The Story of a Marriage

In post-war London, two girls are relieved to finally marry. But while one lands the 1950's dream of wealth and security, the other, Elaine, endures 14 years married to a man with obsessive compulsive disorder. At first, Elaine finds Gerald's activities curious but manageable, but his behavior grows increasingly withdrawn and violent. The birth of their daughter heralds a complete breakdown and five years of silence, fear, and despair. With startling honesty and great eloquence, Bass describes their poverty, her loneliness, her fears for her child, finding comfort in an affair with the village doctor, and how her marriage finally ends.