Plot
The novel follows the scholarly Roland Michell as he attempts to uncover an affair between Randolph Henry Ash, a famous Victorian poet and a Bohemian poetess, Christabel LaMotte. Beginning with a draft of a letter he finds hidden in a book Roland travels to Lincoln to meet with the steely Maud Bailey, descendant of Christabel.~
Parallel to the modern academic findings is the Victorian love story illustrated with letters and poems. The trail of the Victorian lovers takes Roland and Maud from Lincoln to Whitby, then on to France. They uncover a web of romance, deceit and tragedy while they battle against time and other academics. And, inevitably a romance springs between Maud and Roland...