Sapphire

The latest historical romance from a veteran practitioner is strong in patently well-researched details of the class divisions of 19th century England. Sapphire is the beautiful eldest daughterof a poor Lancashire parson. Although she shares a schoolroom with the children of the Earl of Stonehurst, she confronts the social barrier when she is of age to express her love for his son, the heir. The heir must pay for denial of his illegitimate son, raised in a miner's hovel, who, after achieving wealth in London, returns to wreak havocrape and inceston the two families. The pace is spirited as the author establishes the climate that provokes rage as it hobbles the emotional fulfillment of class-bound people. January 27