The French Lieutenant's Woman - John Fowles

Widely acclaimed since publication, The French Lieutenant's Woman is John Fowles' best-loved novel and the ultimate in epic historical romance. Charles Smithson, a respectable engaged man, meets Sarah Woodruff as she stands on the Cobb at Lyme Regis, staring out to sea. Charles falls in love, but Sarah is a disgraced woman, and their romance will defy all the stifling conventions of the Victorian age.