The Incident in the Orchard

A dark romantic tale of possession, obsession and peril

Book One (Can also be read as a standalone novel)

Du Maurier's Rebecca meets Bronte's Jane Eyre in this mesmerising romance thriller set in tumultuous 1930s England, where the wolf is never far from the door.

On the cusp of womanhood, plucky, headstrong and free-spirited Isabella Acton, from a genteel but impoverished family, happily runs wild with a bunch of baseborn youth.

Then one day she is spotted in a crowd of festival onlookers by a dashing but reclusive landowner, Hereward Aldwen. Instantly, he is smitten with her curious beauty and lively nature. So much so, he sets out to find her.

A week later, on the verge of giving up his lovesick quest, Hereward spies her entering a secondhand bookshop on a cobbled backstreet in the town's ancient quarter.

In order to find out where she lives, he attempts to follow her home but soon loses track of her in a maze of alleyways.

Not to be discouraged, Hereward returns to the bookshop, where he elicits her personal details from the indiscreet bookseller.

Thereafter, he approaches Isabella's father to ask for her hand in marriage.

Her father, aware that Hereward is no ordinary landowner but a powerful, influential, ex-military man, readily agrees to the proposition, believing it will be to his own financial and social advantage.

Despite Isabella's fervent objections, the forced marriage takes place with undue haste, after which she relocates to her husband's sprawling ancestral estate.

But Hereward is no idle aristocrat and Isabella no angel in the house, hence sparks soon start to fly between the unlikely couple as she constantly challenges his chauvinistic attitudes.

Now friendless and lonely, where life offers little in the way of stimulation, the unwilling wife's woes are further compounded by a hostile butler and venomous maid, both of whom thwart her attempts to carve out a role for herself in her new situation.

Anxious to escape her husband and the staff's scrutiny, Isabella takes to wandering the dark woods alone, where she absorbs herself in nature, often forgetting to leave before sunset.

However, before long she begins to suspect she is being watched, but blames the sensation on her over-vivid imagination and irrational paranoia. Not only does she fail to heed the warning signs but also makes no mention of her strange perceptions to her husband.

Unbeknownst to Isabella, Hereward's spurned former lover is busy plotting her downfall. And odd occurrences begin to take on a more sinister aspect.

Read on to discover what becomes of the unhappy young heroine in this tantalising, passionate tale of love, jealousy, vengeance, and greed.