The fourth, and final volume, in the saga that began with The Broken Bough, and continued in The Blackbird’s Song and The Water’s Edge ...It is the summer of 1932, Ed Hallam and the beautiful Maisie celebrate their marriage in great style at Ryland Castle. Peg Hallam, once the gardener’s daughter, is now apparently secure in her new role as Lady Ryland, mother of the future heir. After years of various tribulations it would appear that class distinctions have evaporated in the aftermath of the First World War, and that the Hallam and Ryland families may at last have found happiness and stability. However Jenny – the natural daughter of Addie by the Ryland heir, who was killed in the war, but left in ignorance of her origins – finally learns the truth which turns her into a rebellious and unruly young girl with dire and far- reaching consequences for her family.The bewitching Maisie, formerly a night-club dancer, also seems about to cross that class barrier and finally achieve respectability.But will she? Or will the siren call of her former glamorous but dissolute past return to threaten not only her and Ed’s new-found happiness, but also send shockwaves through the entire family?