Bellewether
Buy Bellewether
Synopsis
It’s 1759, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets.
In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined.
Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.
Spellbinding! I’ve loved every one of Susanna’s books! She has bedrock research and a butterfly’s delicate touch with characters–sure recipe for historical fiction that pulls you in and won’t let go!
— Diana Gabaldon
Did You Know…
The fictional Wilde House Museum in Bellewether is physically modelled on the very real-life Raynham Hall in Oyster Bay, Long Island, just in case you want to get any early glimpse of what it looks like…
Gallery
Roslyn New York, the Long Island village that became my town of Millbank
Roslyn’s main street
The duck pond at Roslyn
A view across the duck pond in the evening
Blue skies in the autumn
The Bakery
(Photo by Frannie Cassano)
Sam’s favourite cinnamon buns
(Photo by Frannie Cassano)
Looking north across the bay in late November
Looking north along the east shore of the bay in late November
The picnic area at the museum at Garvies Point where I placed the Wilde House
Raynham Hall Museum in Oyster Bay, the model for my Wilde House
A good view of the slope of the roof of the old saltbox colonial house
You can see here how the Victorian house was fitted into the colonial one and how Charley’s office window would look out over the roof of the Colonial house
Raynham Hall actually has three houses joined together. I only needed two of them for my Wilde House.
Inside looking out
One of the bedrooms inside the house
Not the exact layout of the Wilde House but a fair approximation of the Keeping Room
The rest of the Raynham Hall Keeping Room
In the woods at Garvies Point where I placed the Wilde House
Two of the old tombstones in the private cemetery at Garvies Point
Looking from the woods at Garvies Point down to the bay
The steps leading down to the cove
Sailboats on the bay seen from the bottom of the steps where Charley sits with Frank
Looking towards Roslyn from the shore at Garvies Point
Mosquito Cove, the inspiration for my Snug Cove
The water in which Lydia would have stood
Check out my other books, including more behind-the-scenes info and images.
