Gates of Steel cover

Gates of Steel

by Anne Hampson

After an unhappy marriage, and then the loss of both her husband and her baby, Helen Stewart was disenchanted with the whole idea of love and romance. Leon Petrou, while handsome, rich and charming, was nevertheless said to have no time for women; but he had recently been made responsible for a small niece and nephew, and it was imperative that he provide the children with some kind of stable background - so he suggested that the obvious thing was for Helen, who had brought them to Cyprus and was already devoted to them, to marry him. It would be purely a business arrangement, he pointed out, so what had Helen to lose? Helen agreed, feeling that after all emotion would have no place in the situation - and only realised how wrong she was when Leon's old and dear friend Paula Maxwell began to play a dangerously large part in her marriage.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?