A PERFECT STRANGER

Raphaella de Mornay-Malle grew up in the sheltered world of the Mediterranean aristocracy under the careful tutelage of her stern father and her dutiful duennas. Married at age 18 to a much older American, John Henry Phillips, Raphaella fills her life with his wishes and desires. But when John is incapacitated by a series of strokes, she finds her world shrinking to the size of a sickbed.
Though Raphaella has an uncommonly strong sense of her duty in marriage, she can not ignore her attraction for Alexander Hale, a handsome acquaintance. As John's condition worsens and Alex grows insistent that she acknowledge what lies between them, Raphaella faces a classic duty-versus-love dilemma.