Synopses & Reviews
In the tradition of Philippa Gregory's smart, transporting fiction comes this tale of dark suspense, love, and betrayal, featuring two star-crossed sisters, one lost and the other searching.
Bright and inquisitive, Hannah Powers was raised by a father who treated her as if she were his son. While her beautiful and reckless sister, May, pushes the limits of propriety in their small English town, Hannah harbors her own secret: their father has given her an education forbidden to women. But Hannahs secret serves her well when she journeys to colonial Maryland to reunite with May, who has been married off to a distant cousin after her sexual misadventures ruined her marriage prospects in England.
As Hannah searches for May, who has disappeared, she finds herself falling in love with her brother-in-law. Alone in a wild, uncultivated land where the old rules no longer apply, Hannah is freed from the constraints of the society that judged both her and May as dangerous too smart, too fearless, and too hungry for life. But Hannah is also plagued by doubt, as her quest for answers to Mays fate grows ever more disturbing and tangled.
Review
"An authentically detailed period piece with elements of gothic suspense thrown in for good measure." Booklist
Review
"This extremely compelling, well-researched, and intensely written tale by Sharratt...is packed with fascinating historical information." Library Journal
Synopsis
Constrained by their small 17th-century English town, two independent, spirited sisters push the limits of propriety one journeys to America where she disappears, and the other, trained in the physician's arts, sets off to find her in a wild, uncultivated land where old rules no longer apply.
About the Author
Sharratt teaches at the Loft Literary Center and gives workshops around the country on the subject of women and fairy tales.