From the author of the children's classics The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy comes this richly atmospheric novel for adults about a tempestuous heroine in the days of Queen Anne.

Sir Jeoffry Wildairs is disappointed once again with the birth of yet another girl. Unmoved by the death of his wife in childbirth, he consigns the baby to a remote wing of his stately home. There, Clorinda Wildairs grows up neglected and rebellious, quick to attack anyone who stands in her way. Unlike her timid sisters, the sharp-tongued, defiant girl forces Sir Jeoffry to acknowledge his fatherhood. As the two of them form a growing bond, Clorinda devises a scheme to enter fashionable society.

Determined to forswear her outrageous behavior and establish herself as a lady of quality, Clorinda sets her sights on finding an eligible husband. The young beauty encounters no shortage of eager suitors, but no sooner has she settled on a promising fiancé when a handsome stranger enters her life — one whose passions and indomitable will prove a match for her own turbulent nature. Their illicit attraction threatens to ruin Clorinda's carefully laid plans, plunging the lovers into a whirl of desire, secrecy, and violence.