Joan Hessayon Knihy

Joyce d'Avranche had always been the poor and ignored member of the d'Avranche family of Helmingham Hall. Her childhood had been one of hardship, and over her dead mother hung the disgrace of an old scandal. Then, when the legitimate heir went missing on an Amazon exploration, Joyce was brought to Helmingham and told she could well be the new owner of the beautiful old house and garden. Almost at once she fell in love with it and wanted, more than anything, to possess it. But her background had not prepared her for the running of a huge estate. Everything she did was wrong and her only friend was Rose, wife of the head gardener. Rose, too, had sorrows to bear. Barren, in spite of her longing for a child, she sublimated her sadness in the gardens of Helmingham, concentrating all her energy on the breeding of a new flower - the Helmingham Rose. As the two young women watched the gradual unfurling of the perfect flower, so their own lives moved towards maturity and unexpected happiness.

Edwina Fairfax had defied her brilliant and successful family and trained as an aboriculturist. All her life she had loved trees and when she got her first job - helping to protect and preserve the treelands of Essex - she was delighted. Almost at once she came up against Leo and Cassandra Midnight, the sinister couple living at Gorham House who refused to let her inspect the huge old trees on their property. Edwina was especially terrified of Leo, who reminded her of her bullying and critical father. When she sought the help of Felix Trent, the local policeman, he realised there was something very strange about the Midnights, and when he met Cassandra he recognised her from his past. As Edwina found herself in more and more trouble in her job, making one bad mistake after another, she began to wonder if her family was right about her ability to succeed in life. But finally, when she and Felix faced up to their last confrontation with the Midnights, her future became resolved and she took a new and challenging path forward.