Michael Cox (1) (1948–2009)

Miss Esperanza Alice Gorst creció en París al cuidado de una amiga de su madre, Madame de L'Orme, puesto que sus progenitores fallecieron cuando ella no era más que una niña. Esperanza creció feliz al amparo de los cuidados de Madame y la formación que le proveía su tutor, Mr. Thornahaugh.
Cuando ambos le comunican que debe asumir la responsabilidad de llevar a cabo una importante misión, a Esperanza no le queda más remedio que aceptar y viaja a Evenwood, Inglatera, con el cometido de hacerse con la vacante de sirvienta de Lady Tansor, pero sin ningún conocimiento de su objetivo final.
Madame de L'Orme y Mr. Thornahaugh instruyen a Esperanza para que se gane la confianza de Lady Tansor, pero sin olvidar jamás que ella es su enemiga. La joven logra con inusual rapidez hacerse imprescindible a Lady Tansor, una hermosa viuda de carácter cambiante que sigue venerando la figura de su prometido asesinado, el poeta Phoebus Daunt.… (mere)

After his mother's death, Edward Glyver discovers some secrets from her past which lead him to believe he is the true heir to the wealthy Lord Tansor. The problem is, his old school nemesis, Phoebus Daunt, has inserted himself into Lord Tansor's life, becoming his adopted son, thereby positioning himself to inherit the Tansor fortune. Of course, Edward cannot simply lie back and allow this to happen, and murder seems to be the only answer.

This is a Victorian novel, set in 19th century Britain. I'd added it to my wishlist quite a few years ago after seeing it recommended somewhere and have had the audio sitting on my shelf for quite a while as well. It's long and somewhat daunting, and so I'd put off reading it until now. As many Victorian novels tend to be, it's long, rather depressing, and includes a lot of overly descriptive qualities. I appreciate the writing that goes into such novels, but I can only read one every so often. This had a good basic storyline: some mystery and intrigue, murder, love, etc. The main character of Edward was someone that I was just never sure whether or not to trust or whether or not he was reliable. He wasn't necessarily very likeable and was a bit full of himself, yet as a reader I felt I had to root for him. I liked this story, but the sheer length of it, with all the bogged down details, made it somewhat of a slog for me to get through. But then again, that's often what you get with a Victorian novel. For me, had it been half its length, I would've liked it more.… (mere)