Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"Stunning... richly complex and unpredictable." -Historical Novel Review
Marged Brice is 134 years old.
She'd be ready to go, if it wasn't for Perdita . . .
The Georgian Bay lighthouse's single eye keeps watch over storm and calm, and Marged grew up in its shadow, learning the language of the wind and the trees. There's blustery beauty there, where sea and sky incite each other to mischief... or worse...
Garth Hellyer of the Longevity Project doesn't believe Marged was a girl coming of age in the 1890s, but reading her diaries in the same wild and unpredictable location where she wrote them might be enough to cast doubt on his common sense.
Everyone knows about death.
It's life that's much more mysterious...
"Hilary Scharper deftly mines the beauty and wonder of both the human heart and nature in this haunting tale of enduring love." -Cathy Marie Buchanan, bestselling author of The Painted Girls
Synopsis
"Scharper shines in this surprising and engaging gothic novel... Impeccably researched and beautifully told, this is a tale that will stay with readers long after the final page is turned."--Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review
Hilary Scharper weaves a haunting tale of past, present and future, reminiscent of Susanna Kearsley, Daphne DuMaurier and A.S. Byatt's classic Possession.
On assignment to interview the oldest people on the planet, historian Garth Hellyer meets Marged Brice, a spirited woman who claims to be 134 years old. Upon their first meeting, Marged insists that she is ready to die, but the mysterious Perdita is keeping her alive...
She entrusts Garth with her diary, which connects him to the late 1890s and to Perdita, a supernatural presence who gives the gift of love.
When Garth falls for the beautiful art historian Claire, Marged gives Perdita to him, but in order to be truly fulfilled, he must first make himself worthy of the gift...