Dead-sea fruit, Vol. 3 (of 3)

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About this book

"Dead-sea fruit, Vol. 3 (of 3)" by M. E. Braddon is a novel written in the late 19th century. It is a sensation tale of love, betrayal, and social constraint, centering on Eustace Thorburn’s search for the truth about his parents while interweaving the fates of Harold and Emily Jerningham, the principled editor Laurence Desmond, and the orphaned actress Lucy Alford. Themes of illegitimacy, honour, jealousy, and the friction between feeling and propriety drive the characters toward painful choices. The opening of the novel follows Eustace as he reads a damning memoir (“Disappointments of Dion”) that lays bare his mother’s abandonment by a selfish lover and hints at a Scottish tie that could legitimize her union; shaken by a chance likeness and encounter with Harold Jerningham, he resolves to consult family, seek the Scottish scene, and leave to make his own name before daring to court Helen de Bergerac.