SOLVED. Adult fiction, set in 1920s. First in Australia with protagonist's fiance wanting to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They move overseas - France? Italy? - and she has a fling with a priest. Gets pregnant, leaves baby and husband. [s]

[Nicole]

I think the cover had a woman, (in 1920s style clothing) maybe pale yellow dress, facing away from us. Possibly brown hair.
I read it in about the late '90s or early 2000s, and it wasn't a very old book.
She marries the guy in Australia, then together they go by boat overseas. She's not super happy in her marriage, hence her affair with the priest while she's doing some touristy things. Her husband is very caught up in doing his proposal for building the bridge.
She's doing university research work, and visits a library a lot for her research.
She falls pregnant, but isn't happy about it.
She ends up staying with her MIL (who, from memory, doesn't speak much English? maybe?) when the baby is born - and the priest comes to visit her when she has the baby as his accommodation is nearby.

In the end she leaves her husband and new baby - I think maybe they go back to Australia on a boat while she remains overseas.

Any ideas?

[arratavy]

Conditions of Faith by Alex Miller

Booklist -
The inspiration for this rich and deeply emotional novel is as fascinating as the novel itself. When the author's mother died she left him her journal, consisting only of a few brief entries about her life as a young woman living in Paris in the 1920s. From this sparse but revealing material, Miller created Emily Stanton, a promising young Australian scholar who, in the need to broaden her horizons, impulsively marries Georges Elder, an engineer from Paris. Shortly after arriving in Paris, Emily realizes Georges' true love is the bridge he is planning to construct in Sydney . Emily's restlessness and dissatisfaction lead her to a secret liaison with a young priest, deep in the maze of chambers beneath Chartres Cathedral. Before long she discovers she is pregnant, causing her to question her identity and the purpose of her life. Miller's detailed visual images of Chartres, Paris itself, and Tunisia in the 1920s are transporting. The emotional pitch is high in his compelling portrayal of a young woman's complicated feelings in the face of motherhood.

[Nicole]

That's it! thanks so much :)

[arratavy]

You are absolutely welcome! Happy reading :)