This classic bestselling novel about a man who encounters a woman whose power to destroy is as strong as her power to love evokes Hemingway in its naturalistic portrayal of elemental forces in both nature and humanity. Ellen’s beauty was radiant, and Harland had been so struck with her personality and the strength of her character that he knew he could never leave her. When he found that she returned his adoration, he could marry her with joy, bothered just momentarily by a strange premonition. It was only later, when the premonition became a horrifying reality, that he realized the glowing loveliness of the woman he had married was the true face of evil.
Will hypnotize you until you have turned the last page. —The New York Times
The plot is a humdinger. It has all the high suspense of a first-rate mystery story. —The Atlantic Monthly
Ben Ames Williams (1889-1953)was the author of more than 30 novels, includingAll the Brothers Were Valiant,Come Spring,House Divided,The Strumpet Sea, andThe Unconquered
As an examination of the twisted things that jealousy can make you do, this novel is unsurpassed.