The Wallis women have each other, if little else. In a modest home where love compensates for lucre, Mrs. Wallis raises her two daughters with quiet dignity: Joy, who reads poetry in the garden and ponders life's deeper questions, and Celia, whose eyes wander enviously toward grander estates. When an invitation arrives from Sir Jasper Amery, their wealthy great-uncle whom they've never met, the family must decide whether to accept the comforts he offers or preserve the integrity of their modest existence. What follows is a gentle but pointed exploration of what wealth truly costs, and whether the road to happiness runs through Moat House's ancient doors or remains stubbornly in the heart. Stooke writes with wry affection for her characters and sharp observation of the small cruelties class differences inflict. This is early 20th-century domestic fiction at its most satisfying: a story about what we sacrifice to belong, and what we gain when we refuse.
