Dragonwyck

In 1844, eighteen-year-old Miranda Wells leaves her family’s Connecticut farm to become governess to the daughter of Nicholas Van Ryn, wealthy patroon of the Hudson Valley estate Dragonwyck. Fascinated by Nicholas’s refinement and authority, she enters a household shaped by inherited privilege, secrecy and the oppressive influence of its master.

As Miranda’s attachment to Nicholas deepens, deaths and unexplained disturbances expose the danger beneath Dragonwyck’s splendour. Beyond the mansion, tenant farmers challenge the patroon system in the Anti-Rent War, making the conflict between aristocratic power and democratic change part of Miranda’s growing recognition that romance, possession and freedom are not the same thing.