Summer Darkness, Winter Light

This is a fine novel with not so perfect characters touching on issues of forgiveness, and redemption. It isn't perfect, some of the characters engage in physical violence which I am never a fan of but overall this is a story about moving past bitterness. Heroine Allegra lost her home in England when she was only a child due to a terrible man who accused her father of treason. Her whole family was shipped as indentured servants to America. They were separated and Allegra, now an adult, is on a mission to kill the man who put them in servitude. The man is Lord Wickham and she waits to ambush him outside her old home. When he alights from his carriage she tries to stab him but is stopped and discovers that the man she wants dead is already deceased and the man she almost killed is the new owner of the manor. She leaves devastated and hungry and when she poaches a rabbit she is brought to justice and saved from punishment by the man she almost killed, Sir Greyston Morgan. Grey makes her his indentured servant for a year, the punishment for poaching, but mostly does so because he is very attracted to her. Grey lost his wife and child years ago and is slowly killing himself with gin. He wants the world to hate him and that includes Allegra, who sees past his hurt to the battered man inside. Often Grey lashes out at Allegra verbally and once physically when he is drunk. Allegra lashes back and rightfully so, but she also knows that alcohol plays a part in his anguish. Allegra loves Grey but is still on a mission to bring justice to her family. Apparently Lord Wickham has a son who is living in England and Allegra plans to kill him. This was a bit foolish as this man was not involved with Allegra's ouster but she can be irrational. Together these two have to learn to forgive others and to forgive themselves. This novel moves smoothly with plenty of good dialogue and heart wrenching scenes.

This one was a lucky find in a shelf at a 2nd hand book store. You never know what you are going to get, and sometimes you get nothing special, and sometimes you get lucky. This book was so sweet. This is a story of two tortured people who find salvation in loving each other. The hero, Greyston, is drowning his guilt and sorrow over the death of his wife. He drinks excessive amounts of gin and he is rude to everybody, even his loyal servants and friends. His tortures are more in his mind than anywhere else, but he is stuck in a very dark place. Allegra's tortures are more real. She had a wretched childhood. Her family was betrayed and sold into servitude. All her family members died horrible deaths, and she swore to avenge them. She approaches Grey's manor with that in mind, but finds herself caught for poaching, and again pressed into servitude. She does her work well, and waits for her chance to continue with her quest, meanwhile fighting off Grey's nasty, bad-tempered advances. But Grey is not really as cruel as he wants people to believe he is, and he never really hurts Allegra. With her help, he climbs out of his depression and finds a reason to rejoin the land of the living. She, meanwhile, determines to proceed with her plot to gain her much-delayed revenge. Grey, with his life renewed, tries to stop Allegra from destroying herself with her vengeful plot. It gets a bit exciting after that, with a shipwreck and some smugglers, and a nick-of-time rescue. I don't want to give away any more spoilers, just let you know the story has some action as well as angst. This book was written in 1995 and has apparently faded away into the world of forgotten romances. That's kind of a shame, because it is really good.

This is my first Halliday book and I loved it! Allegra is a strong heroine whereas, the hero, Grey, is dark and troubled. But Allegra's love changed Grey's life and she instilled love and warmth to his hardened heart.