Interpreting the Style of James P. Hogan: Decoding The Mansion of Aching Hearts

Believing his wife, Pauline, to have been unfaithful, Martin Craig, a hard-hearted banker, drives her and her small son from home. Sometime later, Pauline becomes separated from the child during a storm and believes him to be drowned. Martin finds the boy and, not knowing that he is his own son, raises him as a foundling. Years pass. Pauline becomes a matron in a home for friendless girls and meets Martha, a young girl whom Martin has persecuted as a fallen woman. Pauline becomes enraged and goes with Martha to confront Martin. She meets her son, known as Bill Smith, and becomes friends with him, eventually telling him that she is his mother. Bill then, with the help of a mob, attempts to drive his mother away, as his vengeance on her for having deserted him as an infant. Martin comes forward, however, and tells the villagers of the unfounded suspicions that resulted in Pauline's separation from Bill. Pauline and Martin are then reconciled.