The savage instinct : a novel
(Book)

"After a tragic miscarriage and a year spent locked in an asylum, Clara Blackstone travels north to meet her husband Henry for a fresh start, but she's haunted by foggy memories of the past year and a growing distrust of her husband for committing her. After a tense reunion, their carriage runs into a mob surrounding mass murderer Mary Ann Cotton as she's brought to Durham Jail to await trial. When Clara learns that Cotton is not only pregnant but accused of murdering her own children and stepchildren, she begins to visit her regularly in prison, trying to reconcile Cotton's own account of her actions with the shocking allegations against her in sensational newspaper accounts that scandalize the male-dominated Victorian society. As their relationship intensifies, Clara begins to reinvent herself as she fights against her increasingly controlling husband for her own sanity, her freedom, and the truth about her past."--Provided by publisher.