I'm trying, very badly I think, to say that the first part of the book is horrifying but written so well that you can't put it down.The second half of the book is more of the traditional rake reformation of a HEA that one expects in a historical romance. Rachel has been sexually abused so their interactions are much like a bad car wreck that you can't look away from. He's much like the men in Anne Stuart's Rohan books and definitely not like the fun-loving rakes who get drunk, visit a whorehouse, and then race their curricles to Brighton. Sebastian is a rake, depraved, bored, and without morals. Rachel has just served ten years for murdering her husband but is now destitute (a crime in Victorian England and elsewhere). It's to keep her out of gaol but he also makes it quite clear she is to serve as his mistress. Sebastian Verlaine, acting in his capacity as magistrate, hires Rachel Wade to be his new housekeeper.
The writing is superb, and the character work is excellent, but the subject matter is often uncomfortable and sometimes unbearable. "Gaffney writes with power and passion.This is a tough book to review. "With a lyrical voice and keen wit, Patricia Gaffney weaves compelling stories that echo in the human heart." -Nora Roberts "Gaffney's books are always heartfelt and wise." -Janet Evanovich
But society will not be so understanding as a passionate bond grows between them, and as they attempt to uncover the tragic mystery behind his past. His loneliness is palpable, and she can tell he feels drawn to her as well. Sydney, however, sees something else, something that stirs her heart. Her suitor sees him as something of a zoo animal-and a ticket to fame. Found in the Canadian wild, he is a puzzle to be solved, kept captive in a guesthouse-from which he keeps trying to escape. But her life is about to change thanks to the "lost man" her father is studying.
The daughter of an anthropologist in late nineteenth-century Chicago, Sydney is a young widow being wooed by a proper, ambitious-and somewhat suffocating-professor. New York Times–Bestselling Author: In an oppressive Victorian world, a woman is drawn to a man untouched by civilization.
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