The Divided Lady

The Divided Lady is a 1960 novel by Scottish writer Bruce Marshall.

The Divided Lady
First UK edition
AuthorBruce Marshall
CountryScotland
LanguageEnglish
PublisherCollins (UK)
Houghton Mifflin (US)
Publication date
1960
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages158

Plot summary

The style of this book is unusual for a Marshall work. The first half of the book alternates present time with flashbacks from the central character's earlier life.

James Childers, an accountant with a large London firm is sent to Rome to investigate a business deal. The Sisters of Ramoth-Gilead have invested a considerable sum with Morobito, a famous film producer, to make a movie about St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo of Turin. The Sisters suspect they have been swindled.

Childers, who served in Rome in the post-World War II era, quickly revisits old haunts. The chapters switch back and forth between events during his original tour in Rome and the current one.

Post-World War II Childers worked for the British Army dealing with Displaced Persons, specifically their financial situations. In his spare time he pursued Phoebe & Sarah, beautiful, identical twins who are aides of the General Childers also works for.

In the present time, while investigating the Sisters' case, Childers renews his acquaintanceship with Bice, the daughter of a wealthy Duke who was a teenager when he was last in Rome. Bice hopes to use this relationship to get a part in Morobito's film.

But Childers also meets Mila, who is what the Italians call a "Divided Lady," meaning that she is separated from her husband and hoping to obtain an annulment from the Catholic Church.[1]

gollark: You could just... store the key.
gollark: It really wouldn't.
gollark: "oh yes, we force you to have a physical device for storing something like 100 bytes of data for no reason, so instead of just DOING IT IN SOFTWARE the obvious answer is to solder in a special physical device"
gollark: eSIM cards are a horrible workaround.
gollark: SIM cards are just an awful design generally.

References
  1. Marshall, B: The Divided Lady Popular Library New York 1960.
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