![]() ![]() When Malcolm’s discovery of Rosamund’s traveling bag makes it all but certain that she’s dead, he asks for Veronica and Stoker's help in finding out what happened to her. Meanwhile, Malcolm’s wife, Rosamund, vanished on their wedding day three years ago, and no one knows whether she’s dead or alive. Although she loves Stoker, Veronica fears he’s never gotten over the dreadful marriage that almost killed him and is so independent herself that she’s afraid to commit to more than a physical relationship. Stoker and his brother constantly snipe over Veronica, whom Tiberius works to seduce and Stoker secretly wants to marry. The island is large enough for farms and a village whose superstitious natives tell tales of piskies and mermaids. Upon their arrival in Cornwall, they find Stoker, refusing to be left out, waiting to join a group that includes Malcolm his sister, Mertensia, a tireless gardener his sister-in-law, Helen her son, Caspian and a crew of servants directed by longtime family retainer Mrs. What Tiberius doesn't tell Veronica-yet-is that she'll have to pose as his fiancee to gain the approval of their Catholic host, who wouldn't approve of an unchaperoned single woman. Maddern's Isle off the coast of Cornwall to visit the castle of his old friend Malcolm Romilly, who’s promised to give Veronica some larvae of the Romilly Glasswing butterfly, thought to be extinct. He’s not happy, either, that his elder brother, Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, wants Veronica to accompany him to St. Returning to London from Madeira, Veronica Speedwell gets the cold shoulder from her companion in mystery solving, Stoker Templeton-Vane ( A Treacherous Curse, 2018, etc.), who’s still furious that he was left out of the unexplained trip. ![]() Exemplary historical fiction, boasting a heroine with a real and tangible presence.Īn intrepid lepidopterist and her sometime lover are caught up in yet another extravagant adventure in 1888. Her effort to paint Elizabeth as a woman out of synch with her times-insistent on her own right to education, freedom, and self determination-pays off. Donati, a skillful storyteller, easily weaves historical fact with romantic ambience to create a dense, complex design. Even her own brother is dead-set against her marriage and has a hand in setting a fire that ultimately brings about tragedy. When she and Nathaniel finally return to Paradise, it’s only to face the hamlet’s ingrained bigotry. Along the way, she’s captured and nearly killed by the evil Jack Lingo, who is pursuing long-lost Tory gold that he believes Nathaniel has hidden away. When Nathaniel’s wounded by an accidental gunshot, Elizabeth travels solo for days to seek aid for her now-husband. The lovers disappear into the woods, where Todd tracks them ruthlessly. ![]() ![]() When she defies her father and elopes with Nathaniel, her family and the village are horrified. Elizabeth must take great pains to keep their romance hidden from the narrow-minded villagers and from her father, who wants her to marry the local doctor, Richard Todd (Todd’s ample funds could help pay off the judge’s many debts). The attraction is immediate and mutual, and the two quickly become involved in a steamy affair. She plans to establish a school where she can teach the children in the village of Paradise, but has not counted on the sexy, diverting presence of Nathaniel Bonner, a white man raised as a member of the Mohawk tribe. Elizabeth Middleton is a 29-year-old spinster who leaves England in 1792 with her brother Julian to join their father, a judge with significant land holdings in upper New York State. A lushly written first novel, set in early America, by the Pacific Northwest-based Donati. ![]()
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