SEVENTEEN-year-old Anna Mason is thrust into domestic responsibility after her mother dies in a horse riding accident in 1813. Her father John, a Whitby businessman, becomes a recluse and leaves Anna to run the household and her brother, Charles, to continue the family business - including a smuggling operation.
When Julian Kirby, a fellow businessman, shows an interest in Anna, she immediately distrusts him. Rightly so, as he is operating a rival smuggling operation along the Humber.
As love finally blossoms between Anna and Julian, her father is murdered by thieves searching for jewellery. Julian is then forced inadvertently to reveal his darkest secrets to Anna - who forgives him.
Blair (aka Bill Spence of Ampleforth) writes sentimentally and his romantic pen does not always suit the action and adventure at the core of the novel. However, although the beginning and ending disappoint, the central chapters paint an intriguing picture of the smuggling operations along the Yorkshire coast at the beginning of the 19th century.
Updated: 09:15 Wednesday, July 30, 2003
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