The Velvet Glove — Mary Williams

The year is 1905.

Eighteen year old Kate Barrington is getting ready for a ball. She has fallen deeply in love with Jonathan Wentworth, heir to his uncle's estate.

But when she arrives, Jon's attention is captivated by her frail but enigmatic cousin Cassandra.

Consumed by jealousy Kate tries to leave, but is stopped by Rick Ferris, a charming and handsome business tycoon.

Kate knows she cannot love Rick like she loved Jon - but when Rick proposes she agrees, and becomes Mrs Ferris.

Shortly after Jon marries Cassandra. Yet when he tries to touch her she shrinks in fear.

With Kate longing for another man, and Jon unable to consummate his marriage with his wife, both relationships are put under terrible strain.

Will Kate be able to forget Jon and fall in love with her husband?

Or will Jon and Kate's attraction to each other prove their undoing?

‘The Velvet Glove' is a moving social drama following the lives of two women from very different social backgrounds at the beginning of the 20th century.

“Mrs Williams is a skillful scene-setter, and piles up her bricks of fear with a malevolent daintiness which makes her final climax more fearful.” The Times

Mary Williams was born in Leicestershire and attended Leicester College of Art where she trained as an illustrator. During a varied and colourful life she wrote and illustrated children's programmes for BBC Wales and worked as a newspaper columnist. She has had many occult novels published as well as her bestselling Cornish romances which she wrote under the pseudonym Marianne Harvey.