SPOILERS!!!
The book starts in 1945 in a scene in which a woman called Mrs Emily Armstrong has made a bonefire and she is burning some paintings by her brother, Theo Blake.
Then the book moves forward in time, and in 2010 Hetty Devereux travels to Muirland Island because she wants to have a look at the house that she has inherited and wants to turn into a hotel. Hetty is the great granddaughter of Emily. When she reaches the house, she realises that it is a total ruin. Then she is surprised by a man called James Cameron, who she later learns has been hired by the firm that her boyfriend has hired. This is the first Hetty has heard about it, and Cameron tells her that the house can't be saved, and she had better pull it down and rebuild it. Besides, a few days ago while doing the study, he discovered some bones buried underneath the floorboards. That means that the police have to investigate. It is Cameron's cousin and Muirland House factor on the island, Ruairidh Forbes, who is in the police.
The novel seesaws between present (2010) and the past (1910). In the parts about the past we get to know Theo Blake, who used to own the house. He was an artist, and in 1910 he brought his bride to Muirland Island and they spent the summer there.
Theo's wife, Beatrice, is portrayed as a sweet woman, and even though she longs for her husband's love, we know that it was imperative she marry because her family had money problems. Theo is surprised to find out that the factor's eldest son, Cameron, is back from Canada. Beatrice discovers that Theo paid for the boy's education, and now that Theo is on the island, Cameron becomes some kind of secretary for him. There are frequent rows between them because Cameron thinks that Theo could give some former tenants that his father evicted some land, but Theo refuses. Beatrice finds life on the island peaceful, but she feels that Theo has changed, and he has become aloof. She finds it strange that he and Cameron spend a great deal of time together in his study, and Beatrice, who has known about men's relationships, wonders.
What Beatrice doesn't know is that Theo had a past love, a woman from the island, the daughter of the school master, Maili Cameron, and even today he still thinks of her, and her memory makes him realise that he can't love Beatrice in the same way. I have the suspicion that Cameron is Theo's son, and that is why Theo is so interested in the boy. We don't know yet what happened between him and Maili, but we know that Maili married the factor, John, so maybe Theo's father did not allow him to marry her.
Beatrice is finding out that there are parts of her husband that she doens't like. And we can see that she and Cameron are getting closer, and the spend more and more time together. I have the suspicion that something will happen between them.
In present time Hetty wonders who the bones belonged to, and she knows that Theo had a wife, but she is told that Theo and Beatrice left the island, and when Theo returned again, he was alone. Hetty is trying to reconcile her plans with the reality of the house. Cameron thinks that the idea of a hotel wouldn't be welcome, and then Hetty's boyfriend, Giles, and the people who he hired, Emma and Andrew, turn up and they push Hetty to fight for the idea of the hotel. I think Hetty feels snubbed and she should take her stand and voice her opinion. After all, the house is hers alone.
This started slowly, but now I'm dying to know who the bones belonged to and what happened to Beatrice in 1910
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