I really enjoyed this! It's an odd mix of genre, too - a science fiction story at heart, but wrapped in all the trappings of Gothic horror. Bert, the protagonist, finds she is the heir to a dilapidated castle set in the remotest part of the Italian Alps, as well as the noble title that goes with it. The history of her family, previously kept from her courtesy of a grandfather who ran away to the new world, slowly becomes clear, explaining not only the restrictions of her new life, but also the limitations of the old. A painful history of miscarriage becomes an explainable thing, as the genetic reality of Bert's ancestors, and of her living cousins, provides a commentary on human evolution... and the conservation of failing family lines in the face of extinction.

I don't want to give too many details, so as not to spoil this for others, but that genre mix makes this an extremely appealing story, and one that slots interestingly into the history of how evolution and relict populations is portrayed in science fiction.