Disillusioned, she accepted the proposal of Josephine Alleyn, a woman who lives alone with a fragile son, who has never recovered from the horrors of the Spanish war against Napoleon. Lady Alleyn asked her to read to Jonathan to try to get him out of his deep depression.
The beginnings are chaotic. At the first meeting, the young man who never stepped out of his room shuttered lack of strangling Rachel. It has saved lives thanks to the presence of mind of a kitchen girl with red hair, Starling seems omnipresent in the large house.
Gradually, their relationship will improve and the company of the lady discovered that behind the sumptuous appearance of the house lurk horrific secrets. Jonathan's affliction seems to originate not only in the trials he faced in Spain, but especially in the disappearance of Alice, a young woman he once loved deeply.
The mysteries of this family all relate to Alice and shameful secrets of his birth. Who was she, how she is gone, where is it? It will take patience and determination to Rachel, helped Starling finally discovered a truth even more horrible than the worst of speculation, but that will have the merit of being liberating.
This novel by Katherine Webb holds the reader with a subtle intrigue and complex alternating two periods.
