title: The Atonement
author: Brown, N.E.; Jenkins, S.L.
description: Emotionally and physically drained of energy after being in captivity for almost two years, Catherine Merit's struggles to rebuild her and her children's lives, continue in Book 3 of the Indignities Trilogy. After her first husband, John Merit, dies of a terminal disease, Alex Cooper, her second husband, who suffered a gunshot wound to his head, loses his memory and asks to have their marriage annulled, even though she is pregnant with their third child. She is befriended by a young doctor, Samuel Allen, who delivers her third child and their love blossoms as they begin an on again, off again heated love affair. Catherine returns to medical school and graduates in the top five percent of her class. While working at St. Mary's Hospital, gossip and rumors about her ill-fated past cause her to be discharged from the hospital where she works. Unable to find work in Galveston, she moves to the small town of Rosenberg, Texas, and opens a clinic. She meets a powerful man named Michael Atwood, who's interested in finding out about Catherine's past. After moving, she discovers Alex Cooper is now married to Atwood's sister, and also lives in the same town. Trying to balance life with her children, being the town's new doctor, and keeping her past a secret, she find's new challenges await...