The Caged Nightingale

Francesca Bright lives with her father, a widower, developing her talent as a pianist but little awareness of the world beyond her home or the valley in which it lies.

Invited to perform as a pianist for the local elite, Fran must battle her nerves and shyness as she discovers a livelihood and a wider world, sumptuous and sophisticated, in which she comes to feel the attention of men who appreciate her as a woman: even when they shouldn't.

Her father insists he knows best, but how well can he understand the misgivings and modesty of a young woman who missed most of the advice and guidance only a mother can give? Fran's female friends are no
substitute, even before she finds she has won the heart of a married man, before her heart goes out to dying man, and before she realises her father has become a suspicious man.