Keepers of the House Lisa St. Aubin de Terán

Lydia, an Englishwoman, marries Diego, and they return to La Bebella, a dilapidated mansion on a neglected estate upon which years of drought and disease have taken their toll. Only Benito, her husband's retainer, remains and when her husband becomes depressed and a virtual recluse, Lydia has to take on the management of the estate. Benito recounts to her the past history of the family and its gradual decline and it is this history and the characters concerned which forms the bulk of the narrative.