My Lady Caroline

Only the most patient readers, with a serious interest in Lord Byron and Lady Caroline Lamb, will make it past Jones's (Emily's Secret) hopscotch opening. Somewhere about chapter four things slip into place, and the beginnings of a truly remarkable story emerge. Alison Cunningham, a young, Boston heiress, is confronted by the troubled ghost of Lady Caroline, who asks her to find Byron's secret memoirs so that she may prove to society that Bryon did indeed love her. Alison ventures to England and impulsively buys Dewhurst Manor, where the memoirs are purportedly hidden. There, she meets Jeremy Ryder, a British antiques appraiser who is also looking for them. Their love story is entwined with that of Lady Caroline and Lord Byron, as told through Caroline's letters and Jones's fact-based pastiche of the Byron memoirs. It's a smart idea, as the contrast of the bitter historical passion gives greater depth and dimension to Alison and Jeremy's contemporary one. (June)