This book was brilliant! The dedication is to Mary Stewart, Anya Seton, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne DuMaurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney and their books serves as an homage to each of these classic authors. In true gothic style, we have a broken, brooding hero, an orphaned heroine with nowhere else to go. Its as if the ladies in the dedication scripted this book along with her, with the addition of Ms. Phillips's own brand of heroine--strong, snarky, independent.

I have not read all of SEP's backlist, but I'd venture to say this is her best work to date. I've enjoyed her other novels, with quirky, loveable heroines, but this one is the top of the heap for me. This is a book I will read again and again.