Fractures and Hinges

Downtown Abbey meets Gentleman Jack!

Two wounded women, haunted by their pasts, meet and after false starts, discover a real affinity for one another despite their vast differences. Will they be able to forge a love in 1903 European society? Or will they burn up in the flames of their own passions?

It is the year 1903 and Eleanor, the Duchess of Darnsworth, is the envy of many - a beautiful and sophisticated woman, happily married mother of three, well-respected lady of society and an accomplished horse-breeder. But beneath the perfect surface lurks the memory of a tragic loss that haunts Eleanor's every waking moment.

On a visit to Vienna, she encounters the independent-minded and strong-willed Countess Sophie von Hagendorf, who, with her academic pursuits and unconventional lifestyle, has chosen to break through the rigid confines society has set out for her. She, too, has had to create a façade towards the world as loss and a fateful accident have left their scars.

Sophie's brusque manners both exasperate and intrigue the Duchess, but with closer acquaintance, the two women discover a sympathy beyond anything expected and the prospect of a love that could redeem them both . . . but can they forge a relationship in European society?

“[T]his is an amazing read—with complex characters—set in a beautiful Vienna of the early 1900s. If you enjoy a great love story with plot and a range of emotions, then this is your book. Thanks, Edith, for a terrific first novel.”
~CA Farlow, author of The Nexus Series and The Paris Contagion