In the summer of 1900, seventeen-year-old Rupert Upton fell in love with both his beautiful cousin Julia and the picturesque village of Graymont, New Hampshire, the site of a Tonalist art colony. Rupert was deeply impressed by the moody, poetic landscapes painted by the artists in Graymont, especially by those of one man, Ned Foster. But after Foster became his mentor, Rupert’s life took an unexpected turn.
Eighty-two years later, the oupire Rupert Upton has bought his uncle’s old Graymont home, hoping to recover the inspiration that made him want to become a painter. But his plans for a quiet summer in the New Hampshire hills are quickly disrupted by an intriguing woman, whom he encounters one evening surreptitiously making a gravestone rubbing. Smitten by her sexy voice, unconventional behavior, and vampiric name—Lenora—Rupert finds himself drawn to her despite his intuition that she is a danger to him.
For Lenora, an art teacher whose summer job is cataloging an Americana collection at what was once the home of Julia’s wealthy fiancé Lowell Chapman, Rupert is a fascinating puzzle. After meeting him, she wrestles with strange dreams and intuitions about her great-grandfather, whose prediction that she would become an oupire terrified her as a child. Unsure of her feelings, she toys with Rupert, stretching her neck suggestively while gazing enigmatically into his eyes.
But once Rupert’s existence is threatened, their games abruptly end. Now questions that have been simmering under the surface for years suddenly demand answers. Why did Julia die so quickly after Rupert left Graymont that summer in 1900? Why did Lowell Chapman hang himself from the ceiling beam in his own library only a few months later? And who, besides Lenora, suspects what Rupert Upton truly is?
In the summer of 1900, seventeen-year-old Rupert Upton fell in love with both his beautiful cousin Julia and the picturesque village of Graymont, New Hampshire, the site of a Tonalist art colony. Rupert was deeply impressed by the moody, poetic landscapes painted by the artists in Graymont, especially by those of one man, Ned Foster. But after Foster became his mentor, Rupert’s life took an unexpected turn.
Eighty-two years later, the oupire Rupert Upton has bought his uncle’s old Graymont home, hoping to recover the inspiration that made him want to become a painter. But his plans for a quiet summer in the New Hampshire hills are quickly disrupted by an intriguing woman, whom he encounters one evening surreptitiously making a gravestone rubbing. Smitten by her sexy voice, unconventional behavior, and vampiric name—Lenora—Rupert finds himself drawn to her despite his intuition that she is a danger to him.
For Lenora, an art teacher whose summer job is cataloging an Americana collection at what was once the home of Julia’s wealthy fiancé Lowell Chapman, Rupert is a fascinating puzzle. After meeting him, she wrestles with strange dreams and intuitions about her great-grandfather, whose prediction that she would become an oupire terrified her as a child. Unsure of her feelings, she toys with Rupert, stretching her neck suggestively while gazing enigmatically into his eyes.
But once Rupert’s existence is threatened, their games abruptly end. Now questions that have been simmering under the surface for years suddenly demand answers. Why did Julia die so quickly after Rupert left Graymont that summer in 1900? Why did Lowell Chapman hang himself from the ceiling beam in his own library only a few months later? And who, besides Lenora, suspects what Rupert Upton truly is?