A Search For A Secret: A Novel. Vol. 1

The narrative opens in a timeless cathedral town and traces the fortunes of an old Roman Catholic family estate after it passes to a younger Protestant relative. The new owners remodel and brighten the house, strip and reconfigure the chapel's Catholic ornaments, and reintroduce the family to county society, prompting feasts and renewed social life. Parallel sketches follow two sisters whose demeanors reflect differing responses to change. Social gaiety gives way to darker developments as clandestine machinations escalate into an explosion, a mysterious disappearance, and a determined search for the truth that propels the story.