Miranda, a skilled artist, is haunted by her painful past and unable to imagine a future. Tom has spent years helping the downtrodden in London while lying to everyone he meets, but now he’s forced to slow down and confront his unexamined life. “All the characters in this novel, even the minor ones, are complex and surprising, and Harwood deftly blends social realism with fairytale lyricism in a way that is moving without being sentimental.” – HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW (EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD)īeaten and left for dead in the English countryside, clergyman and reformer Tom Cross is rescued and nursed back to health by Miranda and Simon, reclusive siblings who seem to have as many secrets as he does. Order The Curse of Morton Abbey from the online retailers below Amazon

But with her questions diverted, her progress thwarted, and her sleep disrupted by the crying, will Vaughan escape Morton Abbey with her sanity intact or be cursed by the secrets within? To complete her work and solve the mystery at the heart of Morton, Vaughan needs the help of Joe Dixon, the handsome gardener, and Nicholas Spencer, her employer’s irascible invalid brother. Even Netherton, the nearest village, seems odd: the picturesque houses and perfect-looking families are haunted by dark secrets connected to Morton Abbey itself. An intruder tries to enter her bedroom at night, gunshots are fired outside her window, and an eerie crying echoes from the uninhabited second floor.

Once at Morton, Vaughan discovers that someone is determined to drive her away. But few people in late-Victorian England will entrust their legal affairs to a woman, and Vaughan is desperate to prove herself. Solicitor Vaughan Springthorpe knows perfectly well that Sir Peter Spencer’s offer of employment seems too good to be true: he hires her sight unseen, offering a suspiciously large salary to prepare the sale of Morton Abbey, his crumbling Yorkshire estate. A resourceful heroine, a gloomy manor, and a dark secret to uncover-who could ask for anything more? The Curse of Morton Abbey is a terrific gothic romp of a novel!” – KATE QUINN, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code

Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood