1930 - Douro Valley, Portugal
Twelve-year-old Catherine is watching the Rabalo race in Porto when the sound of a shot being fired changes her life forever.
Her beloved mother, mistress for some years to Walter Shellard, a Bristol based wine and port merchant has received distressing news that her lover, Walter, has married a wealthy heiress. In her anguish she takes her own life, leaving poor Catherine alone and heartbroken.
Angry and grieving, Catherine is sent to live under the guardianship of her eccentric Aunt Lopa in a small farmhouse high above the rich vineyards of the Douro valley. Here, she learns to adapt to her new life and her strange aunt but still blames her father, a man she barely knows, for her mother's tragic death.
Coming of age, beautiful Catherine is summoned to Bristol by her estranged father who presumes she'll be as malleable as most other women.
But Catherine is her father's daughter, as strong as he is and still thirsting for revenge.
A compelling family saga of loss and love perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy and Dinah Jefferies
Previously published as 'House in the Hills' by Erica Brown