Following on from discovering Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness books I figured I'd try some of her other writing. I'm not a romance novel fan, I tend to stick to adventure, paranormal and YA books, so it was a change for me.The story follows Madelene and Sophie, two orphaned sisters and their ups and downs, and eventual emigration to colonial Jamaica. The descriptions of Jamaica and the house were what made this book for me, I could almost smell the sugar cane, I WANTED to be there and was transported there via Paver's (once again) brilliant writing. The characters were well thought out, and you cared what happened to them, you wanted the best and the relationship between the two girls was wonderful - I've never had a sister but I hope it would be like this! Theres turmoil and heartbreak and loss, everything you want in a good novel, without it taking over and being the end of the story as whole. The only reason I gave it four stars was because it was not quite what I usually read, and didn't excite me the way the Torak books did. However I did go on to read the others in the series - and loved them all.
