Alma Katsu’s debut novel tells the story of a young girl, Lanny, who is brought into the hospital of St. Andrew, Maine and this is where she meets Dr. Luke. Dr. Luke is told to keep an eye on her, since she is suspect in a murder case and while Lanny admits to the crime, she pleas Luke to help her escape. In order to get him to help her, she tells him a tale more gripping and captivating than any fairytale.
She tells him about growing up in the town of St. Andrew, Maine in the year 1809, when she was but a young girl who fell in love the Jonathan St. Andrew, the son of the town’s founder. Rich and well-loved, Jonathan is the most beautiful person Lanny has ever seen. An unlikely friendship blooms between them, and then slowly a secret relationship. Lanny is told repeatedly by her parents that nothing will come out of her friendship with him, but Lanny still believes that Jonathan will return the love she has for him. Yet after an unfortunate series of events, Lanny is sent to Boston to get away from Jonathan.
Hungry and friendless, it is on the streets of Boston that she is rescued by a group of well-to-do men and women who take her the home of their master, Adair, who is Hungarian royalty. Before she knows it, Lanny becomes entangled in Adair’s snare and has to struggle to escape with both her life -and her heart- intact.
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