This is one of the best books that I have had the pleasure to read in quite a spell. I highly recommend it to anyone even the least bit curious.

Margaret Lea is a solitary woman who is content to live above the bookshop that she helps her father to run. Her only friends are the books she's devoured since she was a child. One day she receives a letter from the best-selling author Vida Winter with a proposal to write her biography, a much sought after honor since the truth behind the woman's origins are veiled in mystery. Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet with the mysterious author and she receives Miss Winter's story that is oh so much more than what it seems. Like the haunting rumors of Angelfield itself, the story that Margaret records is laced with ghosts that help her to come to terms with her own painful past.

I thought the atmosphere of the novel was pretty consistent with the splashes of light here and there. The characters seemed well rounded for a first person narrative, especially one that draws upon the narratives of others in either oral or written form. Being an almost reclusive bookworm myself, I really identified with Margaret. I find myself wishing to read the novel Jane Eyre after it played such a large part in this book.