Mrs. Wiggins - by Mary Monroe (Paperback)

From the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of the
classic, captivating, and scandalous Mama Ruby series, comes a church-going
matriarch’s rags to riches Depression era story set in the Deep South. The
respectable family she has built means everything to her, and she’ll do
anything to keep them.
The daughter of a prostitute mother and an alcoholic father, Maggie Franklin knew her
only way out was to marry someone upstanding and church-going. Someone like
Hubert Wiggins, the most eligible man in Lexington, Alabama—and the son of its most
revered preacher. Proper and prosperous, Hubert is glad to finally have a wife, even
one with Maggie’s background. For Hubert has a secret he desperately needs to stay
hidden. And Maggie’s unexpected charm, elegance, and religious devotion makes her
the perfect partner in lies . . .
Their surprising union makes the Wigginses the town’s most envied couple—complete
with a son, Claude, whom Maggie idolizes. Until he falls in love with the worst possible
fiancée. Terrified, Maggie won’t let Daisy destroy her son. And when her employer’s
brother sexually harasses her, Maggie knows something needs to be done about him as
well. In fact, she realizes there are an awful lot of sinning “disruptive” people who
should be eliminated from her perfect world . . .
But the more Maggie tries to take control, the more obstacles are thrown in her way.
And when it seems like the one person she always expected to be there is starting to
drift away, Maggie will play one final, merciless game to secure what she’s fought so
hard to earn . . .
“Her willingness to do anything for her loved ones is relatable, and the
emboldening influence of her desperation and the incremental gravity of her
deceptiveness heighten the narrative’s mesmerizing effect.” —Booklist