That Monroe girl - Diane Cosgrove

It's 1913. Malise Monroe, a fiery fifteen-year-old, earns herself an education teaching younger children at a Dundee schoolhouse. Her father Gabriel is passionately devoted to improving conditions for workers in the jute industry and battles against the Fraser family, the local factory's idle, rich owners.

Despite sharing her father's beliefs, Malise cannot help finding herself attracted to Neil Fraser, the family's good-looking younger son. Her innocent flirting leads to a terrible incident and Malise finds herself pregnant.
Furious beyond words when he discovers what Fraser has done to his daughter, Gabriel rushes to avenge Malise and is killed in the m?l?e that ensues.

Utterly abandoned, Malise has no choice but to accept a proposal of marriage from schoolteacher Gordon Scott. He is much older than Malise, and crippled, but he is her only chance to save her reputation.

Then the war comes and everything changes forever. As the men of Dundee enlist to fight in France, the city's women must take their place in the jute factory. Malise takes up her father's cause, championing workers' rights and coming back into conflict with the Frasers again. Yet Malise has an even bigger fight on her hands.
Neil Fraser returns from the fighting in France and now covets the handsome son that Malise adores?