The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

 

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
Read by Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, and Patti Murin 

The Heiress is a story about an old rich family and the rumors that surround them and their descendants. Old & Rich - think Vanderbilts and the Biltmore, as this story places the McTavish's as their neighbors. 

The story centers around Ruby, who disappeared in the woods as a toddler. Fortunately she is returned to the family after being taken by a common man to ease his wife's suffering by replacing their baby that had died. 

After this famously notorious kidnapping Ruby grows up in the public eye creating her own notoriety. She marries four times and is four times widowed. She adopts a child to raise as her own and be her heir. The details of these things are revealed to us in a series of mysterious letters written to some unknown person. 

In the current day Cam, Ruby's son, is married to Jules. They live in Colorado, far away from the estate & riches that Cam has inherited and turned his back on. He is a teacher and she works as a character on historical farm. They soon are on their way North Carolina to deal with the estate and a death in the family of Ruby's sister, Nel. Although Ruby inherited the family fortune and then passed it on to her son, her will allowed for Nel to remain living on the estate until her death. 

This is a twisty turny novel, but not in a surprising way. We know things are coming and will be revealed in time. 

Is Ruby really the child who was stolen? 

What secret is Jules hiding? 

Why did Ruby really adopt Cam?  

Who were the letters written to?

Is Cam really who we think he is? 

I enjoyed the way the story was written and for once did not guess all the twists.  That could be my age, or it could be that I don't pick up as much listening as the book moves along and my brain doesn't do it's undercover work quickly enough. Or perhaps the author was just that good.  Read it and you decide. 

I give this novel 4 of 5 shots. 

****SPOILER ALERT****

The rest of this blog is for me to recall what the twists & turns are about when I can't remember what this book is about. 

Ruby is indeed NOT the child who was kidnapped.  She was from a poor family, the Darnells, who's father tried to pass her off as Ruby. He made a deal with Ruby's father which soon lead to his death. Ruby's real identity was a secret held tightly in the senior McTavish's hands.  

Ruby did indeed kill each of her four husbands. The first on their honeymoon in Paris as he had already begun to beat her. She electrocuted one and poisoned another. She may have drowned one, but I don't quite remember. 

Cam was adopted when Ruby needed to have some one to leave the McTavish fortune to. She did not want it to go to her sister who she despised. It seems that everyone in this family hated everyone else. Although Ruby loved Cam she wasn't much of a mother and did everything to control him. That is what finally lead to him leaving the estate and moving to Colorado. Ruby made sure his jobs in NC lasted no longer than a day. As he prepared to leave he went to visit Ruby. She knew he was coming and took a load of pills to test his loyalty to her, believing he would not let her die. But he did. Then he left the McTavish's and moved to California where he met Jules. They later married and moved to Colorado. Jules was aware that he wanted nothing to do with the McTavishes or the money. 

It turns out Jules (not her real name) was a Darnell. So she is a blood relative of Ruby. By this time although Ruby is dead, she died knowing she was a Darnell. Jules had been in contact with Ruby making a deal to meet Cam but not letting him know she knew who he was or anything about him. Ruby's letters had actually been written to Jules who wanted insurance against Ruby turning on her.  

Ruby's letters detailed her four marriages and how she killed each husband. 

Nel and her children confront Cam with the fact that Ruby was not born and McTavish and was never the child who was kidnapped.  Ruby knew that long ago from a DNA test and Cam knew as well. There was no surprise in the attach by his Aunt's family and their attempt to oust him from the family was a fail. Cam had already had the Ruby's will closely scrutinized when he learned and he was safe from their attempts. 

Craziness follows and Ben (Cam's cousin? Nel's son?) kills Nel in her sleep that night. Jules packs their things the next morning after she & Cam decide to just get away and leave it all. He leaves the house for a while and Jules goes to the Ruby's old office to find a letter she had written Ruby long ago, trying to blackmail her. (Which is how they became co-conspirators in trying to manipulate Cam.) Ben has the letter and after arguing Jules grabs it from him and turns to leave. Ben hits her with a paper weight and she grabs a fire poker and kills him. She sets the house on fire. The fire also kills another cousin who no one knew was sleeping. 

Now everything is Cam's with no living McTavish relatives. 

Cam and Jules are still married and expecting a child. Jules understands Ruby's manipulation of Cam and herself. Cam had at some point had a PI investigate Jules and already knew who she really was. She and Cam had truly fallen in love long before they returned to NC and had been married 10 years already. Cam was always a kind and sensitive person. Maybe letting Ruby die was the exception, but she took the pills before he was even in the house. 

Posted without much editing.