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Joseph Johnson's arrival in America is under quite auspicious circumstances. Arranged to marry the daughter of a family friend and receive a significant inheritance from his distant and severe father, Joseph arrives on the other side of the ocean, curious and with an open mind. When he encounters a mysterious and beautiful woman living in a cabin on the expansive family property, he simply has to know more. He discovers that this girl, Isabel, was taken into his father's care while he was in South America after her boat was capsized and her parents were lost at sea. Infatuated and fascinated by Isabel, Joseph soon starts to realize that the things said about her being isolated because of her tuberculosis must not be true. As he starts to ask questions and press the accepted truths, he comes closer and closer to understanding his father's true nature.
Isabel, deeply distrustful of Joseph's father, Samuel, despite his raising her, is elusive and harsh. Joseph's persistence and honesty wear down her defenses, but if the secret about their tryst gets out, she has no doubt Samuel will exact revenge against her for breaking up the wedding. Schemes and secrecy abound as Joseph's bride-to-be, Elizabeth, a childhood friend of Isabel's, reveals the truth behind a blackmail plot and the deranged depths of Samuel Johnson's personal depravity. Joseph has suspicions of his own and is determined to put his heart and his love for Isabel above family ties and even his own safety, but the threat of his father looms large and ever-present until the wedding is complete and his safety is secured.
Given the book's period framing in the late nineteenth century and its narrative focus on the affairs of the community's movers and shakers, readers will draw early comparisons to Austen-esque novels of high society romance and scandal. The scandal in this book, however, is a deep, dark well that continues to provide the story with endless amounts of intrigue and curiosity that keep the readers on the edge of their seats. From the very first chapter, we see that Samuel is a man with a darkness that he embraces rather than hides, and that Isabel, even as a child, is a force to be reckoned with. What this story excels at is taking these simple moral oppositions and giving them an inhuman yet realistic motivation that burns slowly and always has yet another layer to reveal.
Though this is in so many ways a love story, perhaps the main thematic throughline is how those who have power abuse it. It is a rather clever examination to juxtapose against romance and willingly choosing vulnerability to share passion with another, knowing they could break your heart or worse. We see this abuse and its effects most directly through Samuel's cruelty, but also in Isabel's hesitations to let Joseph get close to her, even literally. As the story spans characters, motivations, and even hemispheres, this ugly side to power never abates, and cycles of abuse and violence can seemingly only be broken by their own violent, twisted ends. The details can be grim and its truths unpleasant, but the author sets the foundation early to let readers know what kind of story they can expect. Those who come along for the ride will be gripped and enthralled until the very last page.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review