A lost child.
On the eve of the first world war, a little girl is found abandoned on a ship to Australia. A mysterious woman called the Authoress had promised to look after her – but the Authoress has disappeared without a trace.
A terrible secret.
On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell O’Connor learns a secret that will change her life forever. Decades later, she embarks upon a search for the truth that leads her to the windswept Cornish coast and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by the aristocratic Mountrachet family.
A mysterious inheritance.
On Nell’s death, her grand-daughter, Cassandra, comes into an unexpected inheritance. Cliff Cottage and its forgotten garden are notorious amongst the Cornish locals for the secrets they hold – secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family and their ward Eliza Makepeace, a writer of dark Victorian fairytales. It is here that Cassandra will finally uncover the truth about the family, and solve the century-old mystery of a little girl lost.
A captivating and atmospheric story of secrets, family and memory from the author of the international bestseller, The Shifting Fog.
Winner, ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year 2009
#46 in Australia’s Top 100 Favourite Homegrown Reads
‘…a dark, suspenseful feast for history-lovers.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘…immediately captivating and atmospheric…’ Bookseller & Publisher
‘A foundling, a book of dark fairtyales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied – are all elements pulled together to build a tale that is compulsively readable.’ Good Reading
‘Wonderfully written, this is one of the best reads this year.’ Woman’s Day
‘A compelling, richly layered mystery…’ Australian Women’s Weekly
‘Morton gracefully weaves three narratives…The resolution to the mystery tantalizes throughout…a long, lush, perfectly escapist read.’ New York Daily News
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