Martha Peake by Patrick McGrath

With all the pleasure of a great 19th-century narrative, McGrath's dark and compulsive tale starts by the light of a crackling fire. In marsh-bound Drogo Hall, a dying uncle tells his nephew the story of flame-haired Martha Peake, and her crippled father, Harry. As the tragedy unfurls, McGrath's passionate story moves from the Cornwall, to the fetid tenements of London, and colonial Massachusetts. A dazzling dose of upmarket gothic, down to the Turkish rugs, and the reviving refreshments provided by a little bent-over manservant called Percy.