Yorkshire, 1434. Ambitious Edward Morland arranges a marriage between his quiet son Robert and Eleanor, the spirited young ward of the Beaufort family. Eleanor resents being married to a man she regards as a mere sheep farmer and remains emotionally attached to Richard, Duke of York. Yet the ill-matched couple gradually build a passionate partnership and establish the family that will dominate Morland Place for generations.
Their marriage is tested as the Wars of the Roses divide nobles, neighbours and relatives between York and Lancaster. Court allegiance reaches directly into the household, making inheritance and survival dependent on political judgment as much as affection. The novel begins the dynasty with a family created amid civil war, where private loyalty can be as dangerous as public ambition.
