Author Description

The novel opens with Annie Casteel Stonewall returning to Farthinggale Manor for the funeral of her father, Troy Tatterton. Annie, hoping to finally put the past to rest alongside her mother Heaven, feels drawn to the suite that used to be occupied by her great-grandmother, Jillian. Annie soon discovers a forgotten diary hidden away in a back drawer in Jillian's suite. The diary was written by Leigh VanVoreen, Annie's grandmother and Heaven's mother. Surprised by the discovery, Annie begins to read the tragic story of Leigh. 12-year-old Leigh VanVoreen was the beloved daughter of cruise-ship magnate Cleave VanVoreen and his beautiful Boston socialite wife Jillian. Leigh's life was happy until her mother left her father for the much younger Tony Tatterton, the handsome and wealthy owner of Tatterton Toys. When Jillian married Tony, she and Leigh moved into Tony's estate, Farthinggale Manor. Leigh's only friend on the estate was Troy Tatterton, Tony's 4-year-old brother, and they spent a lot of time together. Eventually, Leigh was placed in an exclusive private school for girls. During her summer vacation, Leigh served as the model for what would be a new line of toys for Tatterton a portrait doll. During the portrait-doll modeling sessions, Tony had Leigh model nude and started making advances towards her, as Jillian had stopped sleeping with him. Leigh told Jillian what was happening, but Jillian told her she was being stupid to worry and that it was nothing. Leigh went to her father to originally help her,but he remarried a woman who didn't like Leigh and Leigh realized he didn't care about her anymore.