Following her wonderful nineteenth century saga THE HOUSE AT HARCOURT, Anita Burgh has written another soaring, dramatic tale of passion, money and love. It is 1899. England is fighting the Boers, Queen Victoria's reign will soon be over and change is in the air. A young girl from Deven, Phoebe Drewitt, escapes her brutal father and a hard life on Dartmoor, her head full of dreams. She is rescued by the reclusive, middle aged Kendall Bartholomew, but are his motives as innocent as they appear? For Arnold Randolph Smythe, shopkeeper and upstanding citizen of Barlton in Devon, life is more than satisfactory. His shop is successful and his daughter adores him, though his rich wife does not. Yet appearances can be deceptive. Dulcie, his wife, meets Phoebe and invites her to their home. The arguments, hatreds and loves that follow have profound repercussions for all involved.