Branded, or, The Daughters of a Convict

Branded, or The Daughters of a Convict by Gerald Bliss is about the tantalizingly scandalous trial of Helen Jerningham, a radiant 22-year-old woman accused of poisoning her husband to death. It is up to Irish lawyer Patrick O'Brien to defend her innocence and save her life. Excerpt: "Five years previously she had flashed like a brilliant, fiery meteor, across the social sky in the season, and had instantaneously become the rage. No one had stopped to inquire about her origin; her voice had been her passport."