The Jilted Countess

Inspired by a true story, the engrossing latest from Ellsworth (The French Winemaker’s Daughter) centers a Hungarian émigré left in the lurch by her American soldier fiancé in post-WWII Minnesota. Roza Mészáros, a countess and former ballerina, arrives in St. Paul from Vienna to be reunited with and marry her fiancé, Joe Harbeck. However, she soon discovers that in the two years they have been apart, Joe moved on and married someone else. Determined to stay in the U.S., Roza places an ad for a man who will marry her before her visa expires in a little over two weeks. Of the more than 1,700 proposals she receives, she chooses railroad engineer Finn Erickson, who hails from small-town Red Wing. However, the rocky start to their marriage is complicated by Roza’s struggle to fit in with the other residents of Red Wing, and by Finn’s frequent absences for his job. She’s attracted to Finn, but she becomes conflicted when Joe arranges to meet her in Red Wing and expresses how unhappy he is in his own marriage. The author enriches the drama with frequent contrasts between war-torn Europe and the idyllic Midwest. Readers will find it easy to root for Ellsworth’s strong-willed protagonist. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff & Assoc. (Jan.)