This sounds like a typical mid- to late-19th C novel for women, actually. They're a cross between bodice rippers and soap operas. Before moving here (and thus losing my access to them....) I spent about a year and a half reading every novel by E.D.E.N. Southworth that I could get my hands on. Given how often the same plot devices are reused (if a husband/fiance has gotten shipwrecked, he's not dead. He'll be back by the end of the book, or by the end of the sequel, if the story is a two-parter), it's amazing how different each of the books are, and how gripping they can indeed be, in between the long descriptions of clothes, jewels, and hair styles. They're a hoot!