Pamela Hill. Used. Good.
From the first vivid moments when Norah is delivered after eighteen hours of labor, until the end, this novel of incredible passions and desire will be impossible for readers to put down. — Norah inherits the estate of Curle from her lecherous and demanding grandfather, Sir Ludovic Curle, but has to fight off the continual claims of Jody Curle, half-gypsy grandson of Sir Ludovic by his eldest son. Both characters are hot-blooded, proud, inflexible and born to be masters, but their inevitable rivalry takes vicious and violent forms.
Norah seems able to beat Jody at his unscrupulous schemes; however, she is alone in her power, while he has the whole gypsy network at his command. The novel's complexity increases with each of Jody's sexual advances -- he will stop at nothing to have a son who will inherit the estate. In contrast to these satanic personalities, the Duke and Duchess of Wraye seem pale, genteel and sadly barren, and young Kate is thrust into the middle of a hopeless situation. Totally unaware of her own blood-ties with the valley, she is torn between her love and admiration for the gentle duchess and illicit, incurable passion for Jody.
The unyielding slopes of the Cumberland falls are a perfect setting for the incestuous atmosphere of this 18th century English tale.