In a corner of Victorian England, Hester Mallow leads a peaceful - some might say dull - provincial life.
The daughter of a respected local jeweller, when she's not working in her father's shop she passes her time with friends and family.
Hester's future seems to be equally predictable.
Her childhood friend Julian is destined for the Church, and will be needing a wife.
Hester seems the obvious choice.
It doesn't seem to occur to anybody that things could be different.
That is, until two devastating events take place.
Hester becomes the sole witness to a murder, and feels unable to tell anybody about it.
And then things go from bad to worse when Louise comes home.
Louise, Hester's beautiful, older sister, was sent away from home when their mother died several years previously.
Now, forced home by circumstance, she upsets the calm fluidity of life completely.
As Hester struggles with her own personal turmoil, the cool beauty of Louise bewitches Julian - and slowly, devastatingly, consumes him.
Without knowing it, Louise narrows the scope of her sister's life; meanwhile Hester becomes Louise's friend, supporter and confidante.
But only up to a point, because there are certain aspects of Louise's life that she is not eager to reveal.
And when the truth comes out, Hester's and Louise's inner worlds collide to devastating effect.
When her sister's true character is dramatically reveals, Hester can finally lay the ghost of the murder to rest and determine her own future, rather than the one others had mapped out for her.
Louise, meanwhile, beautiful and restless, seems to be following a less conventional path...
While Remembering Louise is without doubt a romantic tale, it is the perfect blend of romance, mystery and gothic elements to create a spellbinding story that will linger in the memory.
Anna Gilbert was born and brought up in the county of Durham. Her father was a schoolmaster and she herself was educated at the University of Durham before becoming a teacher. She now lives in Yorkshire. The Long Shadow is her eighth novel.
Genre: Historical Romance
The daughter of a respected local jeweller, when she's not working in her father's shop she passes her time with friends and family.
Hester's future seems to be equally predictable.
Her childhood friend Julian is destined for the Church, and will be needing a wife.
Hester seems the obvious choice.
It doesn't seem to occur to anybody that things could be different.
That is, until two devastating events take place.
Hester becomes the sole witness to a murder, and feels unable to tell anybody about it.
And then things go from bad to worse when Louise comes home.
Louise, Hester's beautiful, older sister, was sent away from home when their mother died several years previously.
Now, forced home by circumstance, she upsets the calm fluidity of life completely.
As Hester struggles with her own personal turmoil, the cool beauty of Louise bewitches Julian - and slowly, devastatingly, consumes him.
Without knowing it, Louise narrows the scope of her sister's life; meanwhile Hester becomes Louise's friend, supporter and confidante.
But only up to a point, because there are certain aspects of Louise's life that she is not eager to reveal.
And when the truth comes out, Hester's and Louise's inner worlds collide to devastating effect.
When her sister's true character is dramatically reveals, Hester can finally lay the ghost of the murder to rest and determine her own future, rather than the one others had mapped out for her.
Louise, meanwhile, beautiful and restless, seems to be following a less conventional path...
While Remembering Louise is without doubt a romantic tale, it is the perfect blend of romance, mystery and gothic elements to create a spellbinding story that will linger in the memory.
Anna Gilbert was born and brought up in the county of Durham. Her father was a schoolmaster and she herself was educated at the University of Durham before becoming a teacher. She now lives in Yorkshire. The Long Shadow is her eighth novel.
Genre: Historical Romance
Used availability for Anna Gilbert's Remembering Louise