The Letter and Chapters 1-5 Summary

The novel is set in the 1820s, a time in which society expectations were extremely important to the way a person was expected to conduct their personal business. This novel is about a woman who has left her husband. During this time period, it was scandalous for a woman to leave her husband and almost unheard of for a woman to take her child with her since the child was considered to belong to the husband.

In the letter, Mr. Gilbert Markham writes a letter to his friend telling him that he knows he is upset that Mr. Markham refused to tell a personal story in return for his friend telling one, so he plans to tell his story in several chapters in several letters. In chapter one, Mr. Markham begins his story by talking...