The daughter of Virginia gentry, Diana Cooke knew early that her parents had only one asset: their stately house, Saratoga, the largest in the commonwealth. Though they are land-rich, the Cookes do not have the means to sustain the estate. Without a wealthy husband, Diana will lose the mansion that has been the heart and soul of her family for five generations. The mysterious Captain Copperton is an outsider with no bloodline but plenty of cash, yet he is cruel as well as vulgar. Diana’s union with Copperton is brief and gives her a son she adores. But when her handsome, charming Ashton, now grown, returns to Saratoga with his college roommate, the real scandal and tragedy begins.

In THE FALL OF PRINCES, Robert Goolrick brings to vivid life a world of excess and self-indulgence, where limousines waited for hours outside Manhattan’s newest trendy club or the latest dining hot spot. Where drugs were bountiful and not refused. Where no price was too high and flesh was always on offer. Where a quick trip to Europe or a weekend on the coast or a fabulous Hamptons beach house were just part of what was expected. When the money just kept coming and coming and coming...until it didn’t.

Recently back from the war in Europe, Charlie Beale shows up in the quiet town of Brownsburg, Virginia. His job at the local butcher shop gives him the opportunity to meet all the townsfolk, including a beautiful teenage bride. Ultimately, Charlie’s obsession with Sylvan Glass threatens to destroy everything and everyone in its path.

With echoes of Wuthering Heights and Rebecca, Robert Goolrick's intoxicating debut novel delivers a classic tale of suspenseful seduction, set in a world that seems to have gone temporarily off its axis.