As a child, Carolyn Dawson had love playing on Greycliff, an island off the Cornish coast owned by the rich and powerful Brandon family. There, she had met dashing once with Grey Brandon, the heir to the estate, and she had never forgotten him. Yet he had no memory of their brief, but shattered past. Now, he wanted to make her mistress of Greycliff Manor, his magnificent but eerie estate. Long-lost love propelled lovely Caroline into a whirlwind romance--and a hasty wedding! Several years later, she returned to the island-and Greycliff Manor-as the bride of romantic, mysterious Grey Brandon.

Before long, however, her bliss turns to uneasiness as she realizes that she is an unwelcome intruder to the other residents of Greycliff: Helen, Grey's coldly contemptuous aunt; Evan, his taciturn, broodingly attractive brother; and Burke, the stolid, intimidating servant who seems to dominate rather than serve the household. Even more disturbing, she finds Grey himself increasingly preoccupied and distant. Suddenly Caroline is thrust into a frightening world of grim discoveries that could threaten not only her marriage--but also her very life. For something sinister lurked in the woods surrounding Greycliff Manor. Terror shrouded its majestic walls.

One night Carolyn is awakened by strange, unaccountable cries of anguish emanating from a basement room. But they are the sobs of a heartbroken child, yet there are no children in the house. Neither then nor all on subsequent nights will anyone explain the cries-or even acknowledge them. Who and what is in the room at the bottom of the stairs? As the mystery deepens, she grows more and more determined to unravel it. But she soon finds that her efforts are placing her marriage in jeopardy and her life in peril. As she struggles to save both, the pieces of the puzzle come terrifyingly together in a shattering climax.