Donella and Hugh Ferguson Watson are locked in an unhappy marriage, and she thinks she knows why.
Before she met him, her ambitious prison doctor husband force fed several hunger-striking suffragettes. He kept the redoubtable Arabella Scott in isolation for five weeks, visiting her every day, talking with her, touching her. What really happened between Hugh and his prisoner patient? Did he succumb to her idealism, or her looks? Or was it her resistance he found intoxicating? Did she return his love? Cupid's itch can afflict anyone. The only thing Donella knows for certain is it cannot be ignored.
Based on real people and events, A Petrol Scented Spring is a riveting portrait of the women who dared to claim equality with men, and a fascinating exploration of passion, repression, jealousy and love.
