If it's straight from the heart, it's from Josephine Cox . . .
Emmie is 17 years of age. John is two years older. They are secretly planning a life together when they are violently driven apart. Denied the man she loves, and dominated by a brutally possessive father, Emmie is devastated when her father's farmhand preys on her loneliness and takes advantage of her. When a child is born, Emmie's life is in tatters. The farmhand warns her not to tell anyone he's the father, or there will be a terrible price to pay.
Trapped and ashamed, Emmie seeks solace in her child, but there is little consolation. Now she has another greater fear, for as the child grows and shows signs of becoming a woman, her tormentor is drawn to her daughter in a sinister way.
Years pass, and still there is no sign of the man Emmie loved. Reluctantly, she resigns herself to the fact that he may never return, and soon her life begins to take another direction. Until, one day, a passing merchant carries news of John that raises her hopes and sends her in desperate search of him.
