Sunlight on a Broken Column — Catherine M. Rae

Set in turn-of-the-century New York and Newport, Rhode Island, Catherine Rae's novel Sunlight on a Broken Column blends romance and suspense in the story of two sisters who take different paths upon the loss of their family fortune.

After Caroline Slade's parents die suddenly in 1892, her father's debts force Caroline and her brother and sister to leave the family's New York City mansion. With the kind help of their elderly neighbor in the adjoining house, Caroline and her brother are able to complete their schooling, while their sister, Laurel, goes to New England in the hope of marrying well. When Lauren returns to New York in disgrace and impulsively marries for money, Caroline is caught in the middle as her new brother-in-law's strange, tormented behavior threatens to drive her sister away and throws the family into turmoil.