The Duchess of Castile

An aristocratic bachelor of the late Victorian era travels north to shoot grouse. In a lodge on Scottish moors he meets his destiny in the shape of a young woman, and, unwittingly, decides the fate of his family. He is in his thirties and his prime, the scion of noble ancestry, by name Lord Ivo Grevill, brother of the Duke of Brougham and Castile, She is an outsider, an enigmatic beauty from South Africa, and could be called an adventuress. But their relationship is fraught with ambiguity from the start. Who casts a sinister spell over whom? Which is the cat's paw, pulling chestnuts out of the fire and getting burned in the process? Coincidence and accident seem to join in the conspiracy devised by one or the other or both, for good or evil reasons, and with consequences at once awful and uncertain. The characters of Julian Fane's new novel come vividly to life in their privileged settings. Beauty and wealth rub shoulders with devious designs. The narrative convinces and grips, and rushes the reader along to the final surprise.


Genre: General Fiction