The Sorceress

In Mrs. Oliphant's The Sorceress, family loyalty, social polish, and private obsession collide in a Victorian world of drawing rooms, sickrooms, and moral scrutiny. When Charlie Kingsward vanishes into disgrace, his home is thrown into panic while Colonel Kingsward searches London with disciplined urgency, determined to recover his son without public scandal. Bee is drawn into the crisis in ways that test her duty and awaken her independence, first traveling to the hidden refuge where Charlie lies ill and resentful, then confronting the bitter truth of his dependence on a mysterious woman who dominates his imagination. That woman, Miss Lance, is equally at home in Oxford, London, and Portman Square, where her elegance, composure, and worldly sympathy captivate Colonel Kingsward and unsettle the family. As Bee tries to care for Charlie, his vanity, feverish hope, and romantic delusions expose the novel's emotional fault lines. At the same time, Bee's broken engagement to Aubrey Leigh becomes the subject of painful public questioning, forcing old suspicions into the open. Across nineteen chapters, Oliphant builds a layered drama of intrigue, wounded pride, and psychological tension. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.