Jane Harris

In 1888, young, art-loving Harriet Baxter arrives in Glasgow at the time of the International Exhibition. Befriending the Gillespie family, Harriet soon becomes a fixture in all of their lives. But when tragedy strikes the promise and certainties of this world all too rapidly disorientate into mystery and deception.

Bessy Buckley takes a job as a maid to the beautiful Arabella, to escape her Glasgow past. She finds that Arabella has a few secrets of her own, as well as an obsessive affection for a former maid who mysteriously died. Then there are the increasingly strange requests. Is Bessy really any better off?

Martinique, 1765: Brothers Emile and Lucien are charged by their French master to return to Grenada, the island they once called home, and smuggle back the slaves claimed by English invaders. Emile has no illusions about the dangers they will face as he sets out with his brother on this 'reckless venture.’