The sudden death of Jaffrey and Clifford Pyncheon's father provides the vengeful and vindictive Jaffrey with the perfect opportunity to get his brother out of the way and seize the family fortune. Framed for murder, Clifford is sent off to prison, where he befriends Matthew Holgrave, the descendent of the Maule family, with whom the Pyncheons have a long history of turbulence. Can the two join together to foil Jaffrey, or are the families destined...

"Spanning the years from the 1830s to the Civil War, and moving from Massachusetts to England, Portugal, and Italy, [this book] explores the tension within a famous marriage of two soulful, strong-willed people, each devoted to the other but also driven by a powerful need to explore the far reaches of their creative impulses. It is the story of a forgotten woman in history who inspired one of the greatest writers of American literature"--Dust jacket...