East Lynne

by Ellen Wood

East Lynne is a novel by Ellen Wood. It tells the story of Lady Isabel Carlyle who leaves her husband and children to elope with her suitor. However, she only does this as she believes her husband is himself, carrying on with another woman. After having a child with her lover, he deserts her and then, she is disfigured and the child is killed in a tragic train accident. She ends up working as a governess for her former husband and his new wife, and takes temporary comfort in the fact that she can be close to her children.