Such a novel is fascinating for those who are looking for a long trip in the past. Xanthe and her mother Flora had a rough life in London because their financial resources were not clicking very sharply. Then they decided to change the location to bring betterment to their lives. Marlborough is the next stop where the mother and daughter buy a shop for themselves for their livelihood. The shop is full of ancient artifacts and Xanthe has the power to somehow guess things about the old artifacts by just touching them.
While touching different objects present in the shop the girl finally reaches for a silver chatelaine which has a mystery attached to it. When the girl tries to know more about the thing she is shifted back to the seventeenth century where the ghost attached to the chatelaine forces her to save her daughter.
The ghost also threatens Xanthe that if she fails in saving her daughter in the past then it would kill her mother in the future. Xanthe gets terrified and then she meets Samuel who proves to be quite helpful for her. The Witch’s Daughter and The Garden of Promises and Lies were well decorated by Paula Brackston with some love scenes in them, here the author plays the same thing.
Xanthe falls in love with the architect and in the end, her heart forces her to remain in the past with her loved one. She wishes to go back to her mother after the accomplishment of the mission but the love just seizes her heart. One thing is for sure Xanthe’s life changes after this incident.