After the autumn of the second one Empire, at the cusp of the Belle Époque, Clara Devereaux reveals herself motherless, left with a recluse for a father with whom she stocks the halls of a slowly decaying property - Château Rivière. At twenty-two she has now not been capable of observe the explanations for her mother's dying nor her father's phantasmal life, and so, unguided and temperamental, Clara unearths no different function yet to spend her days carousing in Paris with youth pal Remi.

As the secret of her mom and dad starts off to resolve - because of assistance from her pricey pal and neighbor Christophe - deep prejudices, betrayals, and a vindictiveness distilled via generations are published; all of which falls onto Clara’s shoulders. whereas dealing with her family's previous, a brand new valet in her father's hire catches her curiosity and motives a jealousy to spark that units in movement occasions she by no means may have imagined. With what little items of a existence she will be able to declare falling away round her, she needs to locate the unravel to suffer a destiny she can't get away, the lack of all she holds pricey, and the power to stand the retribution of her parent's mistakes.

Exploring subject matters of independence inside an ever transferring society following approximately a century of turmoil, author Lauren Sobka embarks on a story of inherited situations, echoes of reminiscence, and the peculiarities of existence you'll be able to be born into. Her settings are imbued with eloquent observations of nature and the riotous, bohemian lifestyles that was once Paris nearing the flip of the century. A gothic novel of the French order, its scenes and characters will linger on your reminiscence lengthy when you end reading.