Liza Marchant

Would the actions of someone born two hundred years ago affect the lives of those today? Writer Ellie Fuller was about to find out as she sifted through the journals, letters and keepsakes of Liza Marchant, who had been a close friend and business associate of the Fuller family; and as she wrote about her, Ellie began to sense all the magic of that bygone age. Was Liza the scarlet woman that she had been labelled or was she someone who had many twists and turns in her life, one who subsequently became an inspiration to those around her and continued to do so from beyond the grave? Ellie begins to see her, feel her and even smell her, and she becomes quite unnerved by the experience, but when her brother, Eddy, has the same dreams they both know that they must lay Liza to rest by accurately piecing together her life story and following the routes that she took so many years ago. Liza's story begins in 1837 with her marriage at the tender age of seventeen to James Marchant who was thirty years her senior. It was a surprisingly happy marriage, but happiness can often turn into disaster, and stability into fear and Ellie finds that Liza's fascinating life takes her to many countries where she meets the descendants of those whose success today had its roots in Liza's influence of the past.

Liza's journey in life continues through the eyes of modern-day writer Ellie Fuller, and the second book of the series follows her return to America with her husband, Patrick, and children, but no sooner are they on their way when disaster strikes and Liza's life is threatened when she is considered a 'Jonah' by some members of the crew. Many adventures occur on her journey but finally she reaches her beloved town of Benson. There are still highs and lows in her life and when she experiences a powerful vision of the future, she risks her marriage, her family and her freedom by acting on what she has seen. Ellie Fuller also experiences that vision but she has yet to interpret its meaning, although she knows that what Liza saw and acted upon was so important that the risks that she took were justified. Ellie also realises that Lord Jamie Edgeworth had played an important part in Liza's life but the current Lord Edgeworth was being particularly unco-operative, as he expressed that he had no desire to delve into the past of someone who he did not wish to consider as ever having had anything to do with his family. Ellie and her brother, Eddy, knew that they would have to face the wrath of Lord Edgeworth in order to get to the truth. As the story continues, both Ellie and Eddy are captivated by Liza's enthusiasm and they look forward to experiencing the next chapter in her life.