This two-part adult fairytale by the author of The Secret Garden combines a charming Cinderella tale with an ironic look at class structure and the Edwardian marriage market in turn-of-the-century London.

Emily Fox-Seton is a simple but good-hearted woman struggling to make ends meet while maintaining the dignity of one distantly related to the aristocracy. The Marquis of Walderhurst is an awkward but eligible bachelor being comically pursued by a pageant of unmarried ladies. When the Marquis surprises everybody by giving his attentions to Emily, he makes himself a fairy tale prince in her eyes. But marrying her prince is not the end of Emily's troubles, as the forces of envy are more cunning and more dangerous than she can yet understand. Will Emily's innocence be her downfall after all?