Ruthless Heart Book

Eliza has lived all her live in a Mormon community, but she is a bookish girl, a scientist at core. Then, her father hires Grady Wolfe to hunt down Eliza's sister, who has escaped to avoid being the third wife of an old abusive husband. Eliza follows Grady to save her sister.

The plot didn't ring true, but I was willing to believe and I continued reading. But then, one morning, after three or four nights with Grady, she wakes up with her nipple being sucked and she wakes with an "Oh, my" in her mouth and then she smiles and says "That was a lovely way to wake up". This is 1872 . So no religious beliefs means no morals?

My mother was born in 1934. At the time worker class in Spain was quite anti-clerical (church allied with privileged), they believed that learning and science were the future of our society, our salvation. But the morals were never questioned, and sexuality was taboo (women had to be virgins until they married, nobody talked about periods or monthlies, etc.).

I gave up reading this book because I couldn't believe Eliza was real. What's the point of writing an historical if the characters in them don't act the part? What's wrong with being historically consistent? I think that it would have added mystery and tension to the book.