In March 1910， a young， handsome yachtsman washes up on shore and is rescued by a servant girl. Her act of rescue triggers a chain of events that lead her to fame， love， and adventure.Originally named Lucinda-Ella by her mother， Rose s name is changed by her mistress， Lady Carclew， who thinks it too refined for a servant girl. Little does the mistress know that Rose has an incredible talent for mimicking upper-class accents. It is this talent that both convinces the yachtsman she is the daughter of the estate rather than the servant， and also leads to Rose s eventual banishment from the Carclew estate. Separated from the yachtsman and virtually penniless， Rose must make a life for herself. When her new role as parlourmaid proves unsuccessful， she moves on to become a wardrobe mistress for the local theatre.It is here that her talent for mimicry is discovered， and she is propelled into stardom， quickly becoming the toast of London and New York s theatre circles. But will she find someone to share her happiness with? Perhaps-if she can think back to where her story began....AUTHORBIO: Malcolm Macdonald was born in 1932， the eldest of three brothers. While he was growing up， his family lived in Shropshire， Scotland， and South Africa; they eventually settled in Cornwall. After school he studied fine art and then traveled， working at a variety of jobs， including teaching， farming， mining， and tunneling. The first of his many novels， which include The World from Rough Stones， was published in 1961. He currently lives with his wife in Ireland.