Promotional Information

A tangled tale of falling in love - with three very different men!

About the Author

Mary Wesley was born near Windsor in 1912. Her education took her to the London School of Economics and during the War she worked in the War Office. Although she initially fulfilled her parent's expectations in marrying an aristocrat she then scandalised them when she divorced him in 1945 and moved in with the great love of her life, Eric Siepmann. The couple married in 1952, once his wife had finally been persuaded to divorce him. She used to comment that her 'chief claim to fame is arrested development, getting my first novel [Jumping the Queue] published at the age of seventy'. She went on to write a further nine novels, three of which were adapted for television, including the best-selling The Camomile Lawn. Mary Wesley was awarded the CBE in the 1995 New Year's honour list and died in 2002.

Reviews

Made me both laugh out loud and cry
*The Times*

She writes with the knowledge and wisdom of serene old age and the emotional exuberance of glowing young womanhood
*Daily Telegraph*

I loved every word of it
*Guardian*

A splendid novel
*Evening Standard*

Made me both laugh out loud and cry * The Times *
She writes with the knowledge and wisdom of serene old age and the emotional exuberance of glowing young womanhood * Daily Telegraph *
I loved every word of it * Guardian *
A splendid novel * Evening Standard *

Set in Europe between the two World Wars, Wesley's seventh novel probes undercurrents of fear threatening the security of friendship and family ties of a group of international vacationers. Meeting in 1926 at a resort in Brittany, the group forever retains ties forged on holiday. Wesley breathes life into this anxious period of history, tracing the growth of Flora, whose parents hate her; Felix, son of a Dutch baroness; best friends Cosmo and Hubert; and the Leigh family. Slowly, we come to understand Flora's successes and failures, as well as her need to appear ``sensible'' in a world with few constants. More than a comedy of manners, this is a story of an entire era--its relationships and its flaws.-- Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.