When the author bought a falling down fortified house on the Staffordshire moorlands, he had no reason to anticipate the astonishing tale that would unfold as it was restored. An increasingly mysterious, set of relationships emerged amongst its former owners, revolving round a now almost forgotten artist, Robert Bateman. Promised to the granddaughter of the Earl of Carlisle, he abandoned her to live as a recluse. Moving between Staffordshire to India, to Canada and Wyoming, this is an astonishing and deeply moving story of love and loss, art and family.