Castle Malindine Author:Hilary Ford Book Club Edition. "Arabella Harley, as spunky as she is pretty, has grown up as the adoring daughter of an adoring father, and her pride in him has not been lessened by their recent financial reverses. Mr. Harley, an incorrigible optimist, has an unbroken record of guessing wrong about supposedly safe investments, and therefore Arabella is dubi... more »ous indeed about his latest "sure thing": his conviction--based chiefly on a gold-handled cane inherited from the father he never knew--that he is the true heir to a great title and estate. yet She agrees to go with him to Ireland to prove his claim. The time of this delightful novel is the mid 1960s. The appallingly oppressed peasants are beginning to rebel against their brutal masters, and here and there an enlightened landowner like Sir John Dungillis is actively championing their cause. The arrival of the Harleys in the remote village of their presumed inheritance sets the tinder ablaze. Before the rightful heir is recognized, blood has been shed and Castle Malindine attacked, the most deceptive villainess since Mme de Winter of The Three Musketeers has been unmasked, and Arabella has found a husband worthy of her."« less