Book description
The latest novel from the genuinely bestselling author of seventeen
compelling novels, from A Woman of Substance to The Triumph of Katie Byrne.
As students at the prestigious Anya Sedgwick School of Decorative Arts
in Paris, Alexandra Gordon, Kay Lenox, Jessica Pierce and Maria Franconi
share the challenges and excitement of developing their artistic talents
to the fullest under Sedgwick's caring and demanding guidance. But once
best friends, they part enemies, and after graduation they go their
separate ways, pursuing careers and establishing lives in different
corners of the world.
Alexandra, a set designer, becomes a leading figure in New York's
theatre world. Kay, who marries and moves to Scotland, designs a
successful line of clothing. Jessica, an interior designer, makes her
home in California, while Maria returns to her native Italy, where she
continues to work in her family's textile business.
For each of them, the arrival of an invitation to Paris to celebrate
Anya Sedgwick's eighty-fifth birthday stirs up complicated feelings:
nostalgic memories are coloured by poignant regrets and the reluctance
to revisit their own pasts mixes with curiosity about the other women.
It is ultimately their desire to deal with unfinished business that
convinces all of them to attend the party. During three eventful weeks
in Paris, they visit their old haunts, rekindle ties, and awaken in each
other the sense of wonder, adventure, and possibilities they had shared
so long ago. Praise for Barbara Taylor Bradford:
'The storyteller of substance' The Times
'Few novelists are as consummate as Barbara Taylor Bradford at keeping
the reader turning the page. She is one of the world's best at spinning
yarns.' Guardian Barbara Taylor Bradford was born and raised in
England. She started her writing career on the Yorkshire Evening Post
and later worked as a journalist in London. Her first novel, A Woman of
Substance, became an enduring bestseller and was followed by
twenty-three others, including the bestselling Harte series. In 2006 The
Ravenscar Dynasty began an epic new family series around Ravenscar and
the house of Deravenel. Barbara's books have sold more than eighty-one
million copies worldwide in more than ninety countries and forty
languages. In October of 2007, Barbara was appointed an OBE by the Queen
for her services to literature. She lives in New York City with her
husband, television producer Robert Bradford.
