On August 30, 1780--at the height of the American Revolution--twenty-year-old Theodosius Boughton, the dissolute heir to a vast fortune and the seventh Boughton baronetcy, died suddenly and in painful convulsions after taking a medication prescribed by his doctor. He was buried in a vault shortly thereafter, but his body was exhumed three days later when rumors began to circulate that the young man had been poisoned. The evidence of poison was compelling, but who could be responsible was far from clear. Theodosius' mother had given her difficult son the medicine and insisted he drink it, even though she thought it smelled suspicious. His brother-in-law, Captain John Donellan, an Irish soldier of fortune who lived in the house with Theodosius' sister, coveted the inheritance that would flow to his wife if Theodosius died. A maid in the house with whom Theodosius--whose taste for women was voracious--had cavorted might well have been jealous at the rumor he was to be married. With the cleverness of a master detective and the literary skill of the finest crime writers, Elizabeth Cooke deconstructs the evidence and chronicles the sensational trial that ensued, providing in the process a fascinating portrait of Georgian society, high and low. The Damnation of John Donellan is a masterpiece of forensic reconstruction.

Examines the suspicious death of an eighteenth-century aristocrat, describing the circumstances of his sudden demise, the leading suspects, and the sensational trial and execution of a man who may have been innocent.

Snow had fallen in the night, and now the great house, standing at the head of the valley, seemed like a five-hundred-year old ship sailing in a white ocean… For the Cavendish family, Rutherford Park is much more than a place to call home. It is a way of life marked by rigid rules and lavish rewards, governed by unspoken desires… Lady of the house Octavia Cavendish lives like a bird in a gilded cage. With her family’s fortune, her husband, William, has made significant additions to the estate, but he too feels bound—by the obligations of his title as well as his vows. Their son, Harry, is expected to follow in his footsteps, but the boy has dreams of his own, like pursuing the new adventure of aerial flight. Meanwhile, below stairs, a housemaid named Emily holds a secret that could undo the Cavendish name. On Christmas Eve 1913, Octavia catches a glimpse of her husband in an intimate moment with his beautiful and scandalous distant cousin. She then spies the housemaid Emily out in the snow, walking toward the river, about to make her own secret known to the world. As the clouds of war gather on the horizon, an epic tale of longing and betrayal is about to unfold at Rutherford Park…

This biography of the spy who became the inspiration for Casablanca's Victor Laszlo describes his involvement in the Spanish Civil War, Stalin's secret meetings, Trotsky's murder and the lives of Hollywood celebrities as he sought fame, fortune and glory .

Return to the statley environs of Rutherford Park and the embattled Cavendish family—from the author of The Wild Dark Flowers. The rain fell softly on the day that she was to be married…Sometimes the longing for the old untouched days at Rutherford would return to her; the innocence of it all, the feeling that England would never change… Charlotte Cavendish has been dreaming of her old home at Rutherford Park. It is April 1917; she is nineteen years old. And everywhere there is change. The war still rages on the Continent, where her brother fights for the Royal Flying Corps. Her parents’ marriage is in jeopardy, with her mother falling for a charming American in London. But not all is grim. Charlotte is marrying Preston, the blinded soldier whom she nursed back to health. Her parents couldn’t be happier about this. The young man hails from a well-established and wealthy family in Kent, and he’s solid and respectable. They hope he’s the one to tame their notoriously headstrong daughter. But as time passes, Charlotte slowly comes to the realization that she is not truly happy. And for a reason she is only just beginning to understand. A reason she dare not reveal to the family—or the world…

A study of the form, function & mystery of these Christian monuments scattered across Ireland.