The New Abelard: A Romance, Volume 1 (of 3)

"The New Abelard: A Romance, Volume 1" by Robert Williams Buchanan is a story set in the late 1800s that looks closely at love, belief, and thinking hard about what's true, mainly following Ambrose Bradley, a church leader who's unsure about his faith and dealing with the demands of his job. The book begins in Mossleigh Abbey, where nature's energy mirrors the characters' feelings, leading to a budding romance between Ambrose and Alma Craik as they discuss faith and doubt. But as Ambrose is accused of not following church teachings, his inner struggles grow, setting the scene for drama, especially when his past—his separated wife, Mary Goodwin—comes back to complicate things and possibly ruin him.