Sophia Petheram has a wealthy godfather. A godfather that has given her gifts of jewels, clothes, riding lessons, for her entire seventeen years. And even though she has never met him, she is leaving her siblings in Boston to go live with him on his plantation in Mississippi. Her mother died when she was an infant, and with the sudden death of her father, Sophie is going to live with M. de Cressac and his wife. Only when Sophie gets there, she discovers his wife has been dead eighteen months. It's too late for her to return to her family, she would be a burden to them, so she stays. In the beginning, Sophia is charmed by M. de Cressac. He has traveled all over the world, and gives her costumes and dresses to wear from different cultures. He makes sure all of her needs are tended to. Sophia even begins to fall in love with him, imagining what it would be life to be his wife. Gradually his dark side begins to show. He owns slaves, which Sophia is strictly against. He has been married four times, but refuses to discuss his former wives. He doesn't allow her to go into town, or attend church, and Sophia becomes very lonely. She intends to leave at Christmas, when her family comes to visit, but de Cressac keeps his lock firmly on her. As Sophia begins to discover the truth of Wyndriven Abbey, she realizes her godfather is much more dangerous than she thought possible.
This novel is a twist on the fairy tale of BlueBeard. I had not read the story, and Googled it, so what happened in the novel wasn't a huge surprise. There is a ghost element, so this would be a great book to give to students who like historical fiction and ghost stories. I read this based off of a strong recommendation of a book club member, and when she discussed it at the meeting, many students were also interested in reading it.
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