Anne Worboys and her two star-crossed lovers: Nicholas le Grys, the second son of the Rundulls and Rose Snape the granddaughter of the butler. They are a wonderful example of people that should never fall in love with each other, but they do.
The result has consequences for both. Nicholas' love for Rose finds him accused of murder of a man who attempted to rape her, in a time when there really was no justice for the lower classes. When the two escape to London together things go from bad to worse.
Ultimately the two end up married to different people. Nicholas, because he drunkenly proposed to Cressina (who looks much like Rose) and Rose because her unborn child needs a father. They also end up on the same vessel headed to New Zealand.
Both characters are very strong willed and both marry people that let them trod all over them. I don't know which spouse I felt sorrier for, Cressina, because Rose was always there in the background and because she had the male child or Daniel, because he was really just a pawn and that's why I find it hard to like Rose.
Rose is very manipulative and she doesn't seem to care who she uses to get what she wants, which is Nicholas. Her lack of love for her children other than Giles is disturbing too.
The author did do a wonderful job at showing the colonization of New Zealand and the troubles the settlers faced from the natives. It proved to be a very exciting read at times. The book read more like a saga rather than a romance novel and one that was rather hard to put down.
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