The sins of the father - Jeffrey Archer

New York, 1939. Tom Bradshaw is arrested for first degree murder - accused of killing his brother. Top Manhattan lawyer Sefton Jelks offers his services for nothing, assuring the penniless Tom of a lighter sentence. Then, after Tom is tried, found guilty and sentenced, Jelks disappears. The only way for him to prove his innocence would be to reveal his true identity - but to protect the woman he loves he's sworn never to do that. Meanwhile, the young woman in question leaves their son behind in England and travels to New York to find the man she was to marry - unwilling to believe he'd died at sea. Her only proof is a letter that has remained unopened on a mantelpiece in Bristol for over a year...