Inheritance - toynton evelyn

In this luminous novel about romance and illusion--and whats left of love when theyre stripped away--an American Anglophile is drawn into the lives of a disintegrating aristocratic family.

After the sudden death of her husband, Annie Devereaux flees to England, site of the nostalgic fantasies her father spun for her before he deserted the family.

A chance encounter in London leads Annie to cancel her return to New York and move in with Julian, the disaffected, moody son of Helena Denby, a famous British geneticist.

As their relationship progresses, Annie meets Julians sisters Isabel and Sasha, each of them fragile in her own way, and becomes infatuated with visions of their idyllic childhood in Englands West Country.

But the more she uncovers about Julians past, the more he explodes into rage and violence.

Finally tearing herself away, Annie winds up adrift in London, rescued from her loneliness only when she and Isabel form an unexpected bond.

Slowly, with Isabel as her reluctant guide, Annie learns of the emotional devastation that Helenas warped arrogance, her monstrous will to dominate, inflicted on her children.

The family who once embodied Annies idealized conception of England is actually caught in a nightmare of betrayal and guilt that spirals inexorably into tragedy.