At the Mercy of Tiberius

When Beryl Brentano walks through her grandfather's door, she isn't just asking for money. She's asking to be reborn. Her mother lies dying in genteel poverty, and the only salvation lies with General Darrington, the imperious patriarch who cast Beryl's family out years ago. Evans crafts a psychological drama where a woman's pride becomes the battlefield, each measured word to her grandfather a negotiation between survival and selfhood. The novel captures something universal and painful: the impossible calculus of love when dignity is the price of rescue. Set in the post-Civil War South, it also quietly examines what happens to women caught between economic dependence and the demand for inner strength. Beryl is no passive victim. She's fierce, complicated, and aware that accepting charity might cost her everything she believes about herself. This is a book about the courage it takes to swallow your pride when someone you love is suffering. It endures because every generation faces its own version of that gut-wrenching choice.