A Perfect Revenge

Three generations of two warring families collide when young Laura Delancey returns from a lengthy trip to India and finds her family greatly changed. The Delanceys had ruled their corner of the English countryside for centuries, but their fortunes have declined. A decades-old feud between them and the Traffords, their former gardener's family, is the source of much tension, and only Stanley Trafford, the former gardener, knows the truth about the rift. Bad blood has carried through the generations, and as the Delanceys' finances diminished, the Trafford family, thanks to business-savvy son Mark, achieved wealth and bought out the Delanceys' gorgeous ancestral abbey as payback. To make things worse, the Delanceys now live in a cramped lodge on the property. Laura's return and a troublesome but short-lived affair provide the catalyst for old wounds to be opened and secrets to be revealed. Though the wrapup is painfully neat and the dark secrets aren't that dark, Dilke (The Inheritance ) exploits the British class system to its fullest potential. (Apr.)