Catherine Cookson's The Man Who Cried

Now he has a job, and with Dick in school, Abel feels that things are beginning to go his way. Until six months later when Peter Maxwell dies and his young widow surprises Abel by professing her love for him and proposing marriage.

Though he is already married, Abel sees marrying Hilda as the only way to secure his future - he decides to accept the offer. It is a decision which has repercussions for all their lives, as his past life catches up with him.