This book had such great reviews that I had high hopes. But I found the heroine insipid, both before and after her transformation from a plain overweight girl into a beautiful woman. And don't get me started on the hero's character. He was totally unsympathetic to me - although the author threw everything but the kitchen sink at his character (lost parents; raised by strict old grandfather), to try to excuse his really awful behavior toward the heroine. Absolutely unsubtle characterizations; poorly researched historically as regards divorce laws and the manners of American 19th century high society. Combine these two strikes with a flat, draggy and very weak revenge plot turning into ultra-predictable love, and it's a total loss. Very, very disappointing.
Beautiful story. Loved the heroine. Hero came around in the end.
Man marries a larger woman to gain his inheritance, and leaves her. Wife loses weight and man notices her again a few years later. A good read.
