YMMV / Ordeal by Innocence

• Values Dissonance: This being a 1950s novel, there are certain elements that may be uncomfortable for today:
  • Tina Argyle is described as being the only dark-skinned adopted child of the Argyle family, with her heritage being brought up regularly against her.
  • Leo Argyle, a believer in blood and heredity, had some misgivings towards taking in adopted children, feeling that because they weren't his children there wouldn't be any real connection between them. He does his best to be a decent father though.
  • Hester runs into Calgary's arms because he believed in her innocence and her fiancee Dr Craig didn't, even though Craig was willing to look after her whether she was innocent or not. Her impulsiveness may cost her in the future, since she and Calgary are decades apart in age.
  • Tina and Micky, adoptive brother and sister, end up becoming a couple at the end of the book.
• The Woobie: In the 2018 miniseries, Kirsten leaves her home to work as a maid/cook in a lavish mansion where she finally gets her own room. She gets on with her mistress and the children, only to have the master of the house rape her. She gets pregnant (which luckily she is not blamed for) and the mistress schemes to let her keep the baby by raising him as her adopted son. But she has to live with her rapist employer who eventually frames their son for murdering his wife and has him beaten to death in prison when the son threatens to expose him.