Young Englishwoman Arabella Adams was full of hope and optimism when she arrived on the Caribbean island of St. Crescens to take up her first post as governess. But it was 1878, less than fifty years after the British abolished slavery. Dangerous secrets and desires lurked beneath the surface of St. Crescian society. Arabella surrendered to a forbidden love even as the dark clouds of old hatreds and new injustices boiled on the horizon. When those clouds burst over the island, Arabella's hopes and dreams ended and the island was changed forever.
More than a hundred years later, another woman, Grace Hylton, arrives on St. Crescens and takes up residence at Jessamine, the old Great House where Arabella once lived. Ruled by a corrupt political dynasty, St. Crescens is again on the brink of violence and chaos. It falls to Grace to discover the secrets of the past and right an old wrong before the island is plunged into years of turmoil. To succeed, however, she needs Arabella's help.
This is the gripping story of two women from two very different eras who must work together to save the island and the man they both love.