A stirring romance set in the late eighteenth century. A coaching-accident has left nineteen-year-old Davina Grimes without a family, and with no memory of her past life. When her well-meaning grandparents introduce her to wealthy Bristol businessman John Paterson, she is compelled to accept his proposal of marriage, even though she finds him abhorrent. Not only is Paterson years older than her, but also he has made his fortune through the slave-trade. Davina settles reluctantly into her new life as a lady of leisure amongst Bristol's merchant class. But a chance encounter with a handsome stranger who accosts her in the street, calling her "Rowan" and claiming to have known her in her past life, stirs up long-suppressed recollections of her youth, and rekindles dangerous emotions. As her memory returns, and she starts to piece together the fragments of her past, Davina uncovers evidence of a sinister conspiracy to prevent her from discovering the truth...