[Nabeel]

I'm writing a novel set in London in the 1940s. My MC is a bookish 26 year-old man who falls into an affair with a slightly older woman. He then has sudden doubts about what he's doing.

As a bookish young man, he's able to think of literary precedents. Unfortunately I can't think of many! I have remembered Frederic Moreau and Mme Arnoux in Sentimental Education. But are there other examples, preferably in fairly mainstream English-language literature? Even better if they show unhappy, immoral and unsuccessful liaisons.

I have consulted with a Professor of English Literature, and he can't think of any.

All help appreciated.

Nabeel