Following the saffron trail from the Moroccan mountains to the wild Cornish coast this is a sweeping, evocative tale of family secrets, lost love, and the price of starting over.

Penhallow House, Cornwall, 2026
For years, Maisie Morris has lived in the shadows. A successful ghost-writer, she has made a career telling other peoples' stories. Then comes the opportunity she's been awaiting: the chance to write a book with her own name on it.

Commissioned to write a history of the once-great Penhallow family, Maisie is drawn to their remote Cornish estate by the promise of sea air, rich archives and a fresh start. But the further Maisie reaches back into the Penhallows' past the more she believes that the house– and her hosts – are filled with secrets.

Penhallow House, Cornwall, 1768
Safiyah has left her country and her customs to come to England with her new husband Daniel, the Penhallows' second son.

Her dowry: precious saffron corms which the pair plan to grow on Cornish soil. But soon rumours swirl about this strange, foreign woman. And so begins a darker chapter in the Penhallow story. A story which someone has spent centuries trying to silence.

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