Quick Synopsis – At the dawn of the 20th century, widow Isabelle Bishop still believes in love—but she knows only money can save her. After losing her husband and three of her children in a shipwreck, she has one chance to rescue what remains of her family: her daughter Mariah and her elderly mother. When Isabelle captures the attention of John Whitten, one of New York’s wealthiest men, she dares to hope that fortune might finally favor her.

But Whitten’s interest is not in Isabelle—it’s in eighteen-year-old Mariah, still reeling from a romantic but disastrous scandal. When Whitten discovers the secret mother and daughter have tried to keep buried, he uses it to his advantage, threatening to expose them unless Mariah accepts his proposal. For the sake of their survival, Isabelle makes a devil’s bargain: She will urge her daughter into a marriage she knows could destroy her.

Mariah quickly realizes her husband’s home is a gilded cage. Yet even under his watchful eye, she begins to carve out passions of her own, finding an unexpected ally in her ambitious maid, Hetty, and daring to imagine a life beyond her constricted world. Together, she and Hetty risk everything to claim a measure of power and self-determination in a world that attempts to deny them both.

Song This Reminds Me Of- I’ll Be Seeing You by Billie Holiday

Publication Date – Nov. 10, 2026

Bookshop Link – Peregrine Hill by Nina de Gramont
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Content Notes – This book is set in the early 1900s America; there is a lot of misogyny and overall mistreatment of women. There is also classism, blood, chronic illness, and threats of violence against women. There are several off-page deaths including the death of children, a spouse, and a dog. There are also threats of committing women to mental institutions against their will. There is an off-page character who is sent to an institution. This book is set in early 1900s where women are property of their husbands, but there are several depictions of marital rape.

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐out of 5

Review – I’m going to put a mild spoiler right at the beginning so skip the next sentence or two. There is a dog that dies in the book in an upsetting way. Honestly, there is a lot of death in this book. The main character loses her dad and siblings in a boat accident, which is off page. The whole book revolves around the violence that occurs to women. Though this book takes place in the early 1900s, a lot of the themes are more than relevant today. This story is told from multiple points of view, which at times were difficult to parse out. The POV would switch sometimes mid-chapter which I didn’t love. I found it hard to stay in the story, when I’m trying to figure out who I’m following.

There are four main POVs; Mariah, Isabelle (Mariah’s Mother), Hetty (Mariah’s Lady’s Maid), and Mrs. Van Wye (Hetty’s old employer and an older widow). Isabelle’s husband and children (minus Mariah) all die in a boating accident, now Isabelle has to find a way to survive. At first, she thinks she’s caught the eye of wealthy older man, Mr. Whitten. It turns out that he’s more smitten with her daughter Mariah. They’re basically blackmailed into a marriage. It is truly disgusting to see how every time Mariah tries to rebuke Mr. Whitten, he acts like it’s a playful flirting move. Each woman is trying to carve out their own existence.

I didn’t love that there was such a push and pull between the older and younger generations. Isabelle truly saw marrying her daughter off as the best option. It felt like she never even tried to look into working or going somewhere less expensive than New York or Boston. Again, this is the early 1900s so options are limited, but it felt so shortsighted even in her grief. Same with Mrs. Van Wye, she was a fairly wealthy widow. Instead of living in her means she was scheming to get Mr. Whitten to abandon Mariah. Mariah’s grandmother is the only older woman who truly seems to help her. Hetty and Mariah had a bit of an upstairs downstairs friendship. Hetty really supported Mariah and recognized that her writing was good enough to be published. She gave Mariah something that was entirely her own and that outlet helps both Mariah and Hetty deal with their circumstances.

This was a quick read, if a little depressing. I definitely recommend if you like historical fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the gifted advanced copy, all opinions are my own.