Winner of the Great Beeston Book Read 2014. History is Professor James Postlethwaite's passion, both personally and professionally. When, by chance, he hears of some old documents that have been festering in the attic of a country house for two centuries he is keen to study them; manorial records together with journals written by the lord and lady, a first-hand view into the life of the Georgian privileged. But he is unprepared for what he finds, for what he reads.These are no ordinary journals chronicling the mundane everyday lives at the manor. These tell of two extraordinary lives, told in their own words. Stories of passion, of achievement, of acclaim, of attainment; but also of tragedy, of misfortune, of heartbreak, of adversity – but essentially stories that define the human spirit.Stories so strong that his own detachment as a professional historian is compromised; he knows he should be dispassionate, approach these journals analytically, but instead he finds himself emotionally connected to these two long-dead people. There are uneasy parallels as his own life starts to mirror the antique stories that he is researching.A story of three very different lives that become entwined – a story of achievement from the humblest of beginnings, but most of all a story of love.And finally, a secret told for the first time in two hundred years.