In 1947, Londoner Alice Miller accepts a post as governess at Winterbourne Hall, looking after Captain Jonathan de Grey’s twin children. Falling under the de Greys’ spell, Alice believes the family will heal her own past sorrows. But then the twins’ adoration becomes deceitful and taunting. Their father, ever distant, turns spiteful and cruel. The manor itself seems to lash out. In present-day New York, art gallery curator Rachel Wright has learned she is a descendant of the de Greys and heir to Winterbourne. Adopted as an infant, she never knew her birth parents or her lineage. At long last, Rachel will find answers to questions about her identity that have haunted her entire life. But what she finds in Cornwall is a devastating tragic legacy that has afflicted generations of de Greys.

When Tim Ellison finds a cheap room to rent in his dream location, it seems nothing more than a wonderful stroke of luck. But when strange and terrifying things start happening in the house at night, Tim wonders if renting the room has been a terrible mistake --- until his feelings for the house’s owner, Anna London, start to change. As Tim falls for Anna, her past comes back with a vengeance…and he finds himself caught in the middle of the storm.