SPOILERS!!!
The novel gradually builds up a picture of the secrets of the Fishers and Vargases. In the narration of 1931 Bianca believes herself to be joined to Hugh Fisher spiritually after they become intimate. However, she is given a hard blow when Hugh tells her that he is to get married the following week. Bianca thought that the engagement was off because of what had happened between her and Hugh. Yet, he tells her that he plans to look after her but he needs to do his duty and marry Abigail Dupont. After that, fearing the worst Bianca realises that she needs a new plan or she will be ostracised and disowned. So she seduces Pascoal Vargas, and when she tells him that she is pregnant, he does the right thing and marries him. That creates a chasm between Bianca and her family. Pascoal and Francisca do not get married, and it is Francisca, and not Bianca (as I had thought) who dies in a boat accident. Joseph is the son of Bianca and Hugh.
Miranda learns the truth one day when Isabel and her mother are away. She spends the day with Joseph and his father catching lobster. At the end of the day Joseph tells her that he is in love with her, and when Miranda demures and says that she feels guilty over Isabel, Joseph tells her about him and Isabel being brother and sister. Miranda is happy to have Joseph's love, and that day when she returns to Greyfriars, she discovers that Hugh and her mother are back, and that is when her mother tells her that she is pregnant.
That night Miranda goes to find Joseph in the lighthouse, and when she tells Hugh that her mother is pregnant, Bianca overhears them from the kitchen where she is making tea. That night Miranda falls asleep in the sofa and she is woken up by Mr Vargas to tell her that something terrible has happened. Apparently, Hugh Fisher came to find her, and Joseph stabbed and killed him.
In 1969 the marshalls watch the island for signs of Joseph. After a party given by the local builder, Miranda puts together a play with the help of Isobel and the artists staying at Greyfriars. When the party is over and is walking home, Joseph appears and takes her to some rooms under the lighthouse where bootleggers used to hide alcohol during prohibition. Joseph tells her that the reason why he is back is that his mother is dying of cancer, and if he had stayed put in prison for two more years, it would have been too late, and his mother would have died. Miranda begs him to escape and save himself, but Joseph can't hear of it because he needs to look after his mother. That night Mirand and Joseph get together for the first time. Then Bianca calls, and Joseph tells Miranda to stay with her mother because he needs to bring a priest. Miranda sits next to the dying woman, and Bianca confuses her with a priest when Miranda says a Hailmary. So Bianca confesses her sins of youth, and she also confesses that she killed Hugh, and not Joseph. From the parts in 1930 we realise that even though Bianca married Vargas and Hugh Abigail, they continued their affair. And the night of Hugh's death when Miranda told Joseph that her mother was pregnant, Bianca saw red and when Hugh came looking for Miranda,, she killed him.
Joseph comes with the priest, and shortly afterwards Bianca dies. Miranda and Isobel help Joseph to escape. Afterwards, Miranda does everything to get an official pardon for Joseph, and then the pardon is granted thanks to Clay's help. The last chapter shows Miranda at Greyfriars, where she has stayed to create her own company. She is pregnant and then she sees a boat coming, and she believes it is Joseph.
A great novel. I enjoyed it very much. I felt sorry for Bianca, but then she allowed her son to go to prison for all these years when he was innocent.
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