Legacy

1993

I had never heard of Traquair House until the spring of my thirty-eighth year. Looking back with the clarity hindsight so often brings, I now realize my oversight had more to do with fate than timing. For an ordinary tourist, the lapse wouldn’t have been unusual. But I was Christina Murray. By no stretch of the imagination could I be considered an ordinary tourist.

For nearly eight hundred years the hills surrounding the Innerleithen Valley have shielded Traquair House from the world. Fifty minutes from Edinburgh, off Highway 709, between Selkirk and Peebles, the turn is easy to miss. Most travelers, intent on reaching the sites of the capital, pass by the poorly marked detour with barely a second glance. For me, there is no such excuse. For me, to have missed Traquair House borders on the absurd.

For fifteen years Gaelic antiquity has consumed my life. Even now, in moments of depression, when I seriously entertain the notion of giving it all up and opening a gourmet coffeehouse or a used bookstore, I have only to close my eyes and relive that first semester at the University of Edinburgh.

I was nineteen years old, a student in the foreign exchange program on my way to visit Holyrood House, when I stopped in at the museum on the Royal Mile. It was such a small out-of-the-way place, I didn’t expect to find anything important. But Scotland, I was to learn, is filled with surprises.

Reverently I ran my hands over the protective glass containing the Scots’ Covenant where the bold scrolling signatures of Montrose and Argyll leaped out at me from the aging parch­ment. A sword from Philiphaugh stood propped against the wall, and a well-leafed prayer book said to have been used by John Knox sat forgotten on a corner bookshelf.

Farther down the street, in the graveyard of Saint Giles Cathedral, I traced fifteenth-century death masks with trem­bling fingers and watched angry clouds gather above my head. For the first time I knew what it was to taste rain on the wind, to see the Grampians, gateway to the Highlands, and, in the distance, the clear light-struck waters of the Firth of Forth pooling silver blue into Leith Harbor. My eyes burned from holding back tears. The cobblestoned streets of Edinburgh welcomed me as if I had come home for the first time after a long and empty journey.

That was the beginning. After that first trip, I returned to Scotland once a year. My knowledge of British landmarks became second to none. I learned to navigate every twisting country road between Stonehenge and Dunnet Mead better than I could the streets where I was born, and my driving time from Heathrow to Edinburgh, at night without streetlights, was clocked at just under six hours.

Now, after twelve years of teaching at Boston College and five more of coursework, I was ready to begin my dissertation. My academic reputation was at its peak and my personal life just beginning to rebound from its downward spiral when Ellen Maxwell’s letter arrived. The incredible realization that, in all my years of research, I’d never even heard of Scotland’s oldest manor house made her invitation appealing. Someone like myself did not just overlook an eight-hundred-year-old manor house.

From the moment I climbed the gravel path to the top of the hill and looked down on Traquair House, it became my obsession. If any of it had happened differently, if the plane ticket from Ellen Maxwell’s solicitor had come at another time, if Stephen and I hadn’t gone through with the divorce, if I’d taken the grant or answered the summer school advertisement, the whole confusing tangle of the Maxwell-Murrays and the Stone of Scone might have remained unsolved for all eternity.

My introduction to Traquair bordered on the macabre. After a brief word of welcome, a servant ushered me up the stairs to an enormous bedroom and then disappeared. It was my first and only meeting with Lady Ellen Maxwell.

She lay still as death, stretched out under the sheets of an enormous four-poster. I moved closer to the bed, prepared for the worst. It wouldn’t be the first time I had seen a corpse. There is something about the absence of life that can’t be mistaken. It’s the fundamental missing piece, that mysterious primal core of the human condition that no scientific laboratory or skilled mortician can success­fully reproduce. The nuns at Mount Holyoake would have labeled it a spirit or, better yet, a soul. Life force is the best I could come up with. Looking down into Ellen Maxwell’s face, I knew she wasn’t there yet.

Beside the bed, IVs attached to tubes led to her frail wrists. A pitcher with a glass straw sat on the nightstand near a bouquet of sage and purple heather. It had all the elements of a hospital room except for the smell. It didn’t smell like a sickroom. This room smelled of pine and spice and the moors near Jedburgh. Who was Ellen Maxwell and why had she summoned me, so peremptorily, to her sickbed?

I frowned and felt the skin between my eyebrows fold into accordion pleats. Consciously, I relaxed, forcing the muscles back into smoothness. Lately, since the divorce, I’d become critical of my appearance. There was nothing more damaging to a woman approaching middle age than frown lines.

The sound of soft breathing reclaimed my attention. I stared down at her face. Despite her age, vestiges of beauty still showed in her features. Her skin was smooth and paper thin. The veins in her temples stood out like blue lines against a white road map. Her hands were immaculate and surprisingly youthful, with long, thin fingers and raised oval nails. Patrician hands.

Somehow I knew that those hands had never felt the sting of cleanser against an open cut. They had never wielded a broom, scoured a pot, scrubbed a floor, or pushed a vacuum. Looking down at that haughty, aristocratic face, I felt a flash of resentment and was instantly ashamed. The poor woman was bedridden and old, and despite the fact that she had money, no one, no matter how indigent, would willingly exchange places with her.

The nurse entered the room, smiled at me, and leaned over the bed. “Lady Maxwell,” she said in the precise, clipped tone of London’s Mayfair district, “Miss Murray is here all the way from America to see you. Don’t be stubborn now. She’s been traveling a long time.”

Like birds’ wings, Ellen Maxwell’s eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks. With great effort, the lids lifted, and eyes, foggy from their drug-induced sleep, stared up at me. Several minutes passed as she struggled to focus.

“She’ll be fine now,” the nurse said. “You may speak to her if you like. Only her body is paralyzed. Her mind is sharp as a tack.” She nodded and patted my shoulder before leaving the room.

Ellen’s dark eyes, now lucid with intelligence, moved over my face, carefully analyzing each feature. It wasn’t a comfortable sensation. Never before or since have I been so calculatingly scrutinized. Feeling somewhat self-conscious, I stared out the window, allowing the old woman to look her fill. I was about to speak when the atmosphere in the room changed. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. Perplexed, I looked down at the aged face and felt the smile freeze on my lips.

Once again I must blame a fantastic author for my lack of sleep... This time, Jeanette Baker is the culprit and the book was, Legacy, originally published in 1996 by Pocket and reprinted by Sourcebooks this year.

I am a sucker for time-travels, and while this book wasn’t your average time-travel, in that the heroine, Christina only actually traveled back in time once for a brief moment and the rest of the "traveling" were visions and dreams that played out as if she were watching the scenes, I was still thoroughly enthralled.

What made this book so fabulous, besides the writing, historical detail, believable and lively characters, sensuality and intriguing tension filled plot, was that we got to experience FOUR different time periods! For a history nerd like myself it was heavenly to get that many time periods in one sitting. What were they you ask? Besides present day, there was the 13th century, 16th century and 18th century. FABULOUS!

Another thing I liked about this book was that it touched on an illness that doesn’t get that much spotlight in fiction—diabetes. The main heroine, and the three she followed through time, all were afflicted with diabetes.

And what is a book without a gorgeous cover? Even though they say not to judge a book by its cover... we just can’t help it. I really love this cover—one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. It says a lot about the book with the castle in the background, the historical Scots female character and the romantic couple.

There is a lot of conjecture about the Stone of Destiny (aka Stone of Scone) and whether or not the one that sat in Westminster Abbey—and returned to Scotland in 1996—was ever truly the real thing. Rumors have traveled from ear to ear for the last seven centuries that the stone was switched with a fake when Edward I made his way to remove it from Scotland for England’s coronation chair. The truth remains to be seen, and Legacy is a fantastic tale about what may have happened to the stone.

Without a doubt, I would highly recommend you add this book to your summer list! It is a definite keeper.


Scotland. History. Suspense. A Family Curse. Time Travel. Legacy by Jeanette Baker has all of the individual elements that I love in a novel, and Baker was able to combine these elements into one fantastic story. And even better, it was a story that kept me awake when I was feeding my infant at night!

Christina Murray is a 38-year old American scholar on Scottish history. After her recent painful divorce, she is excited to discover that she is the heiress of Traquiar House, the oldest continuously habited house in Scotland. After she starts living in Traquiar House, strange things start to happen to Christina and she starts to remember past lives of the women who came before her at Traquiar House. These women look eerily like Christina and all carry shared traits that pass down the family curse.

Katrine is a lovely Jacobite supporter that falls in love with an Englishman. When Bonnie Prince Charlie returns to try to capture the throne, Katrine is torn between her family and her husband. Jeanne has a wonderful husband and two beautiful children, but after a tragedy takes the life of one of her children, her visions lead her to warn King James about the Battle of Flodden Field. These visions lead her to be accused of witchcraft. Mairi has a forbidden passion for King Edward Longshacks of England, but marries her childhood sweetheart David. After Mairi allows Edward to take Scotland’s Stone of Destiny, Mairi’s fate is sealed and a curse is cast on her and all her descendents. All of these women have a ravaging beauty and a tragic history, will Christina be able to lift the curse and find true love?

Legacy is a real page turner and a great story. It reminded me of one of my favorite books, The Green Darkness by Anya Seton. If you like The Green Darkness, you will really enjoy Legacy. I loved the modern day characters of Christina and her handsome neighbor Ian. I wanted Christina to discover the cause of the curse and to lift it. It was fascinating each time she had a flash to the past and the story continued to build to a great conclusion.

I was a bit thrown by one character though (who shall remain nameless to not spoil it for others) who seemed like a kind person at first, but suddenly became a really evil character. I don’t know what I missed –but it threw me for a loop!

Legacy is part of the Casablanca Classics – classic romance novels that have sadly gone out of print that Sourcebooks is bringing back out for a new generation. I am glad they are doing this as I’ve discovered some great new authors and novels!

Overall Legacy is a wonderful novel full of romance, mystery, and a family curse that will leave you reading way too long into the night.



A story rich in romances over years of history.
Christina is a beautiful mature woman who is recovering from a painful divorce. She is a historical research expert but has no idea when she responds to an invitation to visit a hidden Manor in Scotland that it is the home of her ancestors. She is even more shocked to learn that she is to inherit the place. As soon as she arrives, Christina starts dreaming of women of the past, their strong loves and tragic deaths at the hands of enemies. Then the dreams move to visions and even threaten to take her back in time.

Ian is Christina’s sexy, charming and easy going neighbor. Slowly he begins to explain some of the family history to Christina, including the curse that dooms the family women. But he fails to reveal his own family connection and the enemies that Christina needs to protect herself from.

Through Christina’s visions the reader enjoys the passionate loves of three young Scottish women: Mairi who is loved by the King of England, Jeanne who is accused of witchcraft and Katrine who falls in love with a enemy Englishman. Each of the women have similar health issues and their own political struggles. They each find an unexpected love but suffer tragic and brave deaths.

Christina grows stronger and begins to embrace her new relationship with Ian. But will lies tear them apart? Will Christina survive a lurking enemy or die a tragic death which is the legacy of her ancestors?

This is a wonderfully engaging story and it is a bonus that the reader gets to share four romances that are passionate in love not just sex. All of the characters are well developed and I was fully engaged by the excellent tales woven with the rich emotions of each of the women as their own story unfolds. Although this isn’t a true “time travel” I recommend it to those who love romance in time travel genre, historical romance, paranormal and contemporary romance. It has mystery and some suspense too in a gothic type of presentation.


Wow, this one had all of my favorite elements…there’s nothing better than historical, time travel romance in my book!

I am quite impressed with the detail and dramatic story behind the romance. I was totally captivated from start to finish and when I actually had to put it down, it was very easy to pick up where I left off. It was that well put together and easy to follow.
Legacy is abundant with details that will lure you right through to the ending. I hated to put it down and couldn’t wait to find out its conclusion. It kept me more involved in a book than I’ve been in a long time, and I truly enjoyed it. I didn’t feel that I knew everything before it happened, which is an absolute delight these days!

Ms. Baker kept me intrigued and surprised, completely living in the moment of the story. I almost wanted to delay the ending…almost…I just had to see what happened!

Rated 5 Delightful Divas by Shelly!



I knew that I had read this book back in 1996 when it was first published from the moment I read the first chapter. I usually do not re-read a book but I wanted to read this one again as I am fascinated with anything to do with Ireland and Scotland as I am a bit of both and the history portrayed in this book kept me turning the pages. The story takes place in four different time periods, late 1300’s. 1500’s, 1700’s and 1993-95. The story revolves around The Stone of Scone and the Traquair House, which is said to be the oldest inhabited house in Scotland.

"The Stone of Scone , more commonly known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as the Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, later the monarchs of England and since 1603, British monarchs. Historically, the artifact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland." source: wiki

The Murray and Maxwell families lives and history’s are intertwined with all the women in the Murray/Maxwell family’s having a curse put on them, that each female member would have terrible hauntings and nightmares and eventually die horrible deaths. The story is well so researched and written that as each woman’s story was told I felt as if I could imagine myself right in the story, which may be silly to some, but I often feel that way when reading a great historical story. I had to have the tissue box close by also..I highly recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in the history of Scotland/England in the four time periods portrayed.


Do you love Historical Romance? Does just the mention of Scotland make you imagine foggy cliffs and mysterious men? Ladies, do yourself a favor and pick this one up! I can’t resist a Scottish romance, but when you add an ancient curse, ghostly ancestors, and a bit of time travel, then I’m totally sold! And as soon as I started reading Legacy by Jeanette Baker I fell in love with her writing. Her characters are well developed, the setting is painted beautifully onto the page, and the story just takes you by the hand and leads you away...

The story begins with Christina Murray receiving a mysterious letter from Lady Maxwell along with a plane ticket to Scotland. When she arrives, she finds Lady Maxwell on her deathbed, and one look at Christina was all she needed to finish her life. Fear gripped Lady Maxwell as she looked upon Christina’s face, and she died. At this point I was wondering if it was coincidental, but we are soon to find out that Christina is the spitting image of one of the cursed ancestors of Traquair House. And the real reason for Lady Maxwell to want to meet Christina was soon to be revealed - Lady Maxwell’s husband willed his estate, the castle, Traquair House, to Christina. What comes along with Traquair House is the curse...

As the story unfolds, the stories of the other three women, Christina’s ancestor’s that were doomed by the curse, are also revealed. We are transported back in time and place, and treated to what seems like 4 stories, as each woman steps forward to share their forbidden love and life with the reader. The stories are woven seamlessly together, and are passionate, sexy, and painful. And each story stays within its historical context, as Jeanette Baker immerses us in the sights and sounds of the day. I loved being transported back, and almost didn’t want to come back to the present. Christina must resolve to solve the mysteries behind all their lives so as not to suffer the same ill fated curse.

I rate this delicious! A multi-layered story that doesn’t lose it in the details. Equal parts of mystery and romance, I enjoyed it thoroughly and hope to add more Jeanette Baker novels on my shelves! I want to thank Sourcebooks for the review copy of this Cassablanca Classic Romance!


I just finished reading my first book by Jeanette Baker, Legacy, and now have another author to add to my favorites list. This book was enchanting and kept me up reading late. The author’s style is elegant, which added to my enjoyment of the book. Her words flowed with beauty. The characters are three dimensional and well written. It was easy to be drawn into their situations and care a great deal about them.

Legacy is a book with parallel stories, a main one set in the late twentieth century, and three others set in different and fascinating eras in history. The present-day heroine, Christina, and her new love, Ian, are in serious danger due to an ancient curse on Christina’s bloodline. Christina must get to the root of things, going back seven hundred years in discovery, or she is doomed.

Technically, this book can be considered a time travel, but Christina only goes to the past for about five minutes.

As she delves into the past and gets to know the stories of her tragic ancestors, she gets drawn deeper and deeper into their sad legacy. Can she possibly escape their fate? Their stories were heartbreaking, and as I read, I kept hoping she wouldn’t follow in their footsteps.

The setting is important to this book: Scotland, present day and past. The reader is in for a treat, getting such an excellently drawn picture of this beautiful country and its exciting history. An author with a mastery of the language provokes a gorgeous but tragic atmosphere with her words.

Magic, love, and misfortune are themes woven well into the plot. It’s quite entertaining and thought provoking. The various elements of plot are top notch. The subplots create great tension as the book races to its climax. Dialogue is realistic and exposition is excellent.

There may have been one or two small questions I had about the characters or scenes that didn’t seem to be answered, so I read between the lines.

This is a wonderful book, and I’d highly recommend it.



An enjoyable book that leads you through many generations of family along with a search for a Scottish Relic and an ancient curse. It will leave you turning pages as quickly as possible and anxious to see what happens next, let alone with an ending that you didn’t see coming.

If you enjoy romance with time travel and it takes place in Scotland than you will want to give this one a try.

Grade B-

Jeanette Baker is a new-to-me author and while it wasn’t 100% my absolute favorite novel, I really did enjoy it. Jeanette Baker’s writing style, alternating between history and present, is unique. It starts off, honestly, a little slow, but by halfway through, I was totally engulfed in the story and characters.

Christina Murray inherits a Scottish manor. Unsure why, she travels to her new home, to unravel the mystery behind her ancestral inheritance. Along the way, she meets her neighbor, Ian. He’s a bit mysterious, and he’s handsome. She knows she shouldn’t fall in love with him.....if she does, it would surely mean her death.....right? As this passionate mystery unfolds before the reader, will Christina piece the clues to her legacy together before it’s too late?

While not a normal book that I would have bought off the shelf (it’s a bit steamy!), it is definitely a good read. The characters are lifelike and blend fabulously with the plot. The reader is instantly taken to Scotland and delivered to the midst of the settings, both past and present, feeling the 4 star work of this talented author. If you like passion mixed with mysteries, then this is definitely one you don’t want to miss!



My Review:
Christina Murray has been summoned to Traquair House and after the death of Lady Maxwell, Christina now finds that, she has inherited this piece of history. Little did she know she has also inherited the curse that comes along with the house. It seems that Christina has also fallen under the spell of her gorgeous neighbor, Ian Douglas. Although, it is not the handsome that haunts her dreams, instead she is plagued with vision of the past. Visions of three women who look exactly like Christina and who have suffered greatly for the men they chose to love.

Each one of the three women fell victim to the curse, first it was Mairi. She suffered at the hand of the Bruce for her forbidden love of an English King. Next in line is Katrine, a loyal Jacobite supporter who fell hopelessly in love Richard an Englishmen in the Kings Army. The third woman to share this ill-fated destiny is Jeanne; once again, she marries only to find that the stars are set against her. Now it is Christina’s time to fall in love, will she escape the curse and change her destiny? Or, will loving Ian Douglas cost Christina her life?

My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It reads as four books in one, each one taking you on a journey throughout Scotland’s history, and each one more intriguing than the next. The characters were intriguing as well, and I found that I could not put this book down; if I would have had the time, I could have finished this book in one sitting. Although I should warn you this book has its share of heartbreak as the curse is explained, it also has its share of twists and turns that I did not see coming. I also enjoyed the plot.

While I enjoyed the story, I would have enjoyed a deeper look into the story line especially when the plot reverted to the past. I felt that bits and bobs of the story rushed from one point to the other. Although I did find that I truly enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it to those of you who like Scottish history.

For a romance book, it was light on the romance, of course it was still there it was just tuned down allowing the focus to be on the story itself rather than the falling into bed aspect of it.

Cover Thoughts:
I am not sure what to think of the cover, I like that it gives off an air of mystery although I think it fails to covey the story. In addition, I would have liked the strip of tartan that is down the side of the book to have either been a Maxwell, Murray, or Douglas color rather than a Stewart tartan.

Overall:
This was one of my favorite books. I thoroughly enjoyed the stories of the four women, although I believe that my favorite would have to be the story of Katrine, the Jacobite supporter and her doomed love. Not that the others fail in comparison, I just have a soft spot for the Jacobite cause and those who have suffered for it. Jeanette Baker also conjures up a gripping account of Culloden Moor.



Originally published in 1996, Jeanette Baker’s book Legacy is being reissued to a new audience. Baker crafts a novel full of Scottish history and lore, with magical elements that readers will find enchanting. This book has everything from time travel to an ancestral curse, intertwining the stories of the four women who lived and loved at Traquair House, in the Scottish Highlands. Readers will find Baker’s plot riveting and the characters engaging.

Christina Murray is one of a long line of strong women. When she inherits the ancestral Scottish home of her family she will have to rely on that strength to see her through. Traquair House is everything she’d dreamed of a Scottish manor, but it’s her dreams she comes to fear. Love was probably the last thing on her mind after a shattering divorce, when Christina meets her new neighbor Ian Douglas. The attraction between the two ramps up quickly, but they’ll need each other as the ancestral curse that affects both their families is revealed. Christina is visited often in life-like dreams by three women who have shaped the past of her family, each one affected by a terrible curse from centuries gone by. Christina may be the next victim to fall prey to the curse if she and Ian are unable to solve the ancient mystery surrounding Traquair House.

Being of Scottish ancestry myself I was really excited to review this book, by Jeanette Baker. Baker chronicles the history of the Maxwell family with such elegance and grace that the characters seem to jump of the page. Scotland has a proud though tragic history and Baker did an excellent job of portraying the men and women who lived during this chaotic time. Her character development was very well done.

When we first meet Christina she comes across as a rather self-conscious woman who has been through a bad breakup. She’s very intelligent, a history professor who has specialized in Scottish history though she had no idea that, that was where her own history came from. As the book develops. Christina changes a great deal. As Ian’s love begins to seep into her, readers will begin to see her gain confidence in her appearance and her own self-worth. They will also see Christina change in reference to the three ancestral women who seem to be haunting her dreams. At first she is a little mousy with the housekeeper, Kate. She seems to be walking on eggshells in a home that is her own. But as the visions become more regular and she begins to see the strength of those women in her own past, she becomes more confident in her abilities to run her own house. Overall we see Christina become one of the strong women that Traquair House has always been home to. It was delightful to watch her really blossom as a woman in this book. The author did an excellent job of showing the reader her immense growth.

Ian, the hero in the story is not as well developed as Christina but the reader will gain a clear knowledge of who and what kind of man he is early on. He realizes how closely he is tied to Christina and goes about trying to help her figure out what is going on. His love is very obvious and comes across as very real. I thought the author could have given us a little more detail about Ian, but I also felt satisfied that we knew enough as readers to like him and want his relationship with Christina to flourish.

In my opinion the real stars of this book were, the three ancestral women, who visited Christina in her dreams. Mairi of Shiels the medieval maiden, Katrine Murray the staunch Jacobite who fell in love with the Englishman and Jeanne a woman accused of witchcraft. All three of these characters came alive in Baker’s writing. She showed us the woman who loved the king, but wasn’t willing to give up Scotland to him. The woman who loved her family and clan, but also a man considered her enemy and the woman who wouldn’t follow convention and befriended those who were considered not the best of associates. I loved all three women and thought Christina was a good fit for a more modern Maxwell woman. The mystery of the curse itself and the dreams were wonderfully written and I think Baker did a great job of really capturing the Scottish legends and lore.

I recommend this one to readers of historical romance and historical fiction. If you enjoyed books like the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series, this book should be right up your alley. I really enjoyed it and felt it really showed the essence and strength of the Highland people.

I am giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!


My love of time travel novels started with Barbara Erskine and Lady of Hay over 20 years ago. Then came Diana Gabaldon’s Cross Stitch series and whilst it’s quite a wait in between these authors novels you are often desperately searching for something to fill the gap. This is where books like Legacy are perfect as they give you a temporary satisfaction to the craving. I’m really not sure what it is about time travel that has so many readings enthralled, maybe it’s just our fascination with history. For me, I think you get the best of both worlds, history, contemporary and a little romance to keep it interesting.

Legacy immediately starts with the back story set in 1298 and then the first chapter comes back to the present day. Throughout the novel it does change time periods but not to much that you have trouble following the story. The story begins with every historical fans fantasy, a trip to Scotland to find out you’ve inherited a castle! There is intrigue regarding how she came to inherit this castle and there is a dark tall stranger to make it all very interesting.

A story that contains suspense, romance, time travel and Scottish history can only be a winner. I loved this book and can understand why Sourcebooks decided to re-publish it. This is a definite must read. You can purchase Legacy from Book Depository or Amazon.




Gothic Scottish Romantic Novel With More Than a Hint of Ghostly Timetravel

When Christina Murray arrives in Scotland’s Traquair House at the behest of a woman she has never before met, her life takes a strange and Gothic turn. In the moment Ellen Maxwell’s gaze met Christina’s, Ellen died. Then Christina discovers Traquair house, one of the oldest homes in Scotland, has been left to her. As a long-time student of Gaelic antiquity, it seems a dream come true but, newly divorced, Christina is no longer the gullible trusting woman she once was.

In no way ready for a new relationship, Christina fights the strong erotic draw of Ian Douglas, a nearby land owner. Still, Ian is the most knowledgeable person in the area regarding the history of Traquair House and the most likely source of the information she needs to discover her ancestral link to the property, and why perfect strangers had made her their heir.

Complicating matters, Christina begins to have strange dreams and visions of the past, revolving around women whose faces could have been her own, living out their lives in their individual time periods. Each dies too young, and each has something to do with a pivotal turning point in Scotland’s history.

Jeanette Baker has penned a classic Gothic novel, complete with a mysterious ancient home, an uncertain hero, and even a Mrs. Danvers-style housekeeper. She has added a hint of the ghostly with the infusion of historic tragedy into the present, and writes the historical sections of the tale with vivid immediacy. If you enjoyed the Gothic romances of the past (you remember, the ones with the woman in a nightdress running away from a moonlit stone mansion on the cover) or if you like a strong thread of emotional suspense in your reading you will greatly enjoy immersing yourself in LEGACY.



Christina Murray is a thirty seven year old woman from Boston, who had never heard of Traquair House in Scotland before - a house full of history and with an eight hundred year old curse. As a historian, she’s drawn to it the moment she lays eyes on it. It feels familiar to her. But Christina doesn’t understand why it was left to her in a will by a man she never met.

Ian Douglas (a local) is her new neighbor. Their lands join one another, and he is also a handyman who helps take care of Traquair House. Ian is instantly attracted to Christina in more ways than one. Their families were connected in the past. So Ian has a fair amount of knowledge about the history of Traquair house, and he also knows its secrets.

Christina is having visions of the past, seeing her ancestors. She experiences what they are doing in the most amazing way. Through these visions she stumbles upon an eight hundred year old curse that could destroy any future relationships. Christina is scared and wonders about her sanity. Ian wants to help her and ease her suffering, but there is nothing he can do. Will this curse bring them to a terrifying end? Is there any way to fulfill destiny and end the curse? Will love win out?

Wow! What a book! Fantastic to say the least. A page turner full of surprises, and a great read overall. Jeanette Baker makes you feel like you are right in the room with Christina. You can visualize everything in detail. I have never read anything quite like this and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a bit of romance and a walk on the wild side of reality. Legacy is fascinating and spellbinding, imbued with the love of the Highlands, their history and lore.

Format: Paperback

Dimensions
Length: 8 in
Width: 5 in
Weight: 9.00 oz
Page Count: 384 pages