This thriller is about disinheritance and the question of women. The Vanstone daughters' illegitimacy is revealed early on, and as Magdalen Vanstone struggles to reclaim her identity, the plot uncovers many a moral, social and legal skeleton in the cupboards of Victorian society.

This thriller is about disinheritance and the question of women. The Vanstone daughters' illegitimacy is revealed early on, and as Magdalen Vanstone struggles to reclaim her identity, the plot uncovers many a moral, social and legal skeleton in the cupboards of Victorian society.