The Shadow Players

A young woman's relationships are nearly destroyed by her buried memories of a childhood assault, repercussions of which place her in grave danger as an adult. After her mother dies, heiress Aline Marlowe keeps her London job and gives her stepfather, painter Michael Courteney, use of the family estate, Hazeling--despite her anger over his quick remarriage and her hidden suspicion that it was he who attacked her in the marshes when she was an adolescent. While working at an auction house, Aline meets wealthy art dealer Piers Drayton, whom she marries after a whirlwind courtship despite her best friend's warnings and her former lover's distress. Aline's idyllic marriage grows strained: Piers becomes increasingly jealous and moody; she miscarries after a mysterious fall; people close to her die. Finally she determines to find out the truth behind the long-past terror. Sole ( The Last Summer of Innocence ) has written a romantic thriller in the Rebecca tradition, making the most of her steady hand for characterization and her strong sense of detail. (Oct.)