Ruth Pennistan is a farmer’s daughter, born and brought up in Kent.But her dark hair and eyes belie a forgotten ancestry – a Spanish gypsy grandmother and a passionate inheritance.Malory, the rather strait-laced guest of the family, falls head over heels in love, even whilst Ruth becomes trapped against her will in a drama of love and tragedy with another man.Vita Sackville-West’s first heroine echoes the passions and contradictions of the author's own life.