Prisoners: Fast Bound in Misery and Iron

On a balcony overlooking Rome, the young Duchess Fay Moreland watches the city she cannot escape, trapped in a marriage to an Italian duke who offers her wealth but not love. When her cousin Michael reenters her life after years of absence, the suppressed feelings between them ignite into something dangerous. Cholmondeley, the author of the acclaimed Red Pottage, crafts a knowing portrait of a woman imprisoned not by chains but by duty, propriety, and her own conflicted heart. The novel pulls no punches in depicting Fay's hunger for genuine connection, her guilt, and the impossible choice between the life she inherited and the one she longs to live. Set against the romantic decadence of pre-WWI Italy, this is a story about the cages we build for ourselves and the ones society builds for us.