The Woman At The Door by Warwick Deeping

3.5 Stars

Which is the greater of two evils...a man who abuses his wife over the course of many years, or a woman who kills such a man in self defense? Laws being what they were in 1930s England, such a woman would either hang or spend the rest of her life in prison.

But what if someone.... (theoretically speaking), spirits such a woman away, hides her, creates a new identity for her, a new life somewhere far away...on the continent perhaps, is that man an even greater sinner? Should he be held with even greater responsibility or is it perhaps true that "the law is an ass", afterall? 

Such is the conundrum for Mr. Luce, a widower, who leases an old signal tower in the country for peace and quiet and then one stormy night hears a tapping at his door...

So I enjoyed this book, Deeping always delivers a well told story, but it wasn't my favorite of his. I thought there was a lot of room to spare for richer and more authentic character development, especially on the part of the woman. I felt that Rachel (the abused wife) realistically would have had a lot more baggage/ trust issues than she was shown with and probably wouldn't have fallen so quickly into another man's protection (or his arms). Just an observation. But Deeping likes his docile heroines :)

CONTENT: 
PROFANITY: Mild, a few D's
VIOLENCE: Mostly offscreen domestic violence. One brief attack shown.
SEX: None shown to reader

MY RATING: PG