This short book is a story about a girl who lives in a large, rather isolated house with her older sister and their invalid uncle. We learn that the family, the Blackwoods, is one of the older families in that town. A great tragedy has befallen the family six years prior and as a result, the remaining survivors, Mary Katherine, her older sister Constance, and their Uncle Julian, have retreated into seclusion. The villagers hate them.

The character of Constance; and the interaction between her and her younger more spirited sister, Mary Katherine, I think, are the main showcases of this book.

The work is moody and atmospheric. If you loved works such as that by Anne Rice, Edgar Allen Poe, and also Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I highly recommend this book.