This was my first by this author and I have to say it took
me some time to get used to her style of writing. For much of the first half of
the book, she “tells” the story through the omniscient point of view and then
dashes in and out of the various characters’ minds. That and her free use of
reflexive pronouns had me wondering just whose perspective I was being given.
But I pressed on.
The story begins in 1856 as Lady Catherine Lytton returns
from Paris to meet her distant cousin, Adrian Stowe, “the last” Earl of
Halford. At the beginning, the author gave us so much backstory and so much
family history with a plethora of names thrown in I had no idea who all these
people were. It turns out that one night in the past, Adrian’s family was
murdered by a former servant who then slit his wrists. Adrian discovered the
bodies and, the next day, disappeared. Now, years later, he’s returned, a hero
of the Crimean war.
Catherine throws herself, quite literally, at Adrian and
becomes his lover. To me, she seemed spoiled, self-indulgent and a bit too aware
of her beauty. Adrian takes what she offers and tells her he cannot marry her.
(Why is not clear since when she becomes pregnant he offers to do just that.)
Meanwhile, though this is the Victorian era and she is a young, unmarried woman
of high birth, she frequently escapes her mother and those who are charged with
her care to tryst with Adrian. And that is pretty much the first half of the
book.
When Adrian leaves for Constantinople,
hunting the man he thinks murdered his family—a man who is not, in fact,
dead—Catherine follows. And the story picks up. Lots of action at this point
contributes to an exciting second half although there are a few brutal moments
that I will not describe. The writing is quite good at this point and you begin
to see that these two people really do love each other.
The ending is exciting and rewarding.
On Amazon
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