Penny Vincenzi zählte zu den beliebtesten und meistverkauften britischen Autorinnen, die als 'Grande Dame des modernen Blockbusters' bekannt wurde. Ihre produktive Karriere umfasste über sechzehn Bestseller-Romane und Kurzgeschichtensammlungen, die weltweit Millionenauflagen erzielten. Vincenzi pflegte bis ins hohe Alter eine tiefe Liebe zum Schreibprozess und arbeitete aktiv an neuen Werken, was ihre beständige Hingabe an ihr Handwerk unter Beweis stellte.
London 1985: Als Sir Julian Morell stirbt – legendärer Gründer des luxuriösen Kosmetikimperiums »Morell’s« –, versammelt sich die ganze Familie zur Testamentseröffnung. Allen voran Julians junge, ehrgeizige Tochter Roz und seine zweite Ehefrau, die schöne, ambitionierte Phaedria. Jede der beiden hofft, das Unternehmen künftig zu führen. Doch die Testamentsverlesung endet im Eklat: Julian hat einen bedeutenden Teil des Geschäfts einem völlig Fremden vermacht. Sein Erbe ist mit einer großen Geschichte voller Glanz und Glamour, aber auch Macht und dunklen Geheimnissen verbunden, die ihren Anfang in den Vierzigerjahren nimmt …
When a man is faced with a dilemma that threatens his principles, his
reputation, his marriage and a child, what choices will he make? An
irresistible novel from the No 1 bestselling Penny Vincenzi.
Zwischen Glamour und Rosenduft kämpfen zwei Frauen um ein einst glanzvolles Familienunternehmen ...
Glückliche Ehe, perfekte Karriere – Bianca Bailey hat alles richtig gemacht. Charmant, aber unbeugsam bringt sie Firmen, die in Schieflage geraten sind, wieder auf Kurs. Ihr neuester Auftrag: das altehrwürdige „House of Farrell“, eine exklusive Kosmetikmarke. Bianca soll hart durchgreifen und die ehemalige Chefin Athina Farrell ins Abseits manövrieren. Doch bei Athina beißt Bianca auf Granit. Was sie zuerst für ein kleines Scharmützel zwischen Blütenduft und Rosenpuder hielt, entwickelt sich zum leidenschaftlichen Kampf zweier großer Frauen und derer Familien um Macht, Privilegien und Geheimnisse. Ein Kampf, der auch Biancas Privatleben heftig erschüttert ...
Slavná firma House of Farrell vyrábí neméně slavný The Cream, ikonický kosmetický produkt, o který se ženy perou už od roku 1953. U Farrellů totiž mohou počítat s exkluzivní péčí. Legendární Athina Farrellová je stále tváří firmy a Florence Hamiltonová dokáže prodat každé ženě přesně to, co potřebuje. Ale kosmetický svět se mění a House of Farrell nyní musí bojovat o zákaznice s modernějšími značkami. Bianca Baileyová, úspěšná byznysmanka a matka tří dětí, která vždycky dosáhne svého, zase bojuje s Athinou o budoucnost firmy. Za sebou má ovšem minulost poznamenanou ambicemi, láskou, nenávistí a životními zvraty. Jakou kapitolou jejího života se stane zápas o záchranu dokonalého dědictví?
From her sweeping novels to her searing journalism, Penny Vincenzi has been writing all her life, and this is a collection of her work brought together in a single edition for the first time. As well as ten stunning short stories, Penny also shares some of her thoughts on a huge range of subjects from love and relationships to work and families, and gives us a peek at the tantalising first chapter of her new novel, A KIND OF PROMISE - making LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON AND OTHER DELIGHTS a must-have for any Vincenzi fan.
Set against a vibrant sixties backdrop, this is the story of two bright young things: Eliza, an ex-deb making a splash in the world of fashion, and Matt, a working-class boy carving out a serious name for himself in property. Their story begins with a love affair, closely followed by a marriage, followed by a baby. But whilst their relationship is at first fuelled by passion, it's not of the enduring kind, and soon what started out with such promise descends into a harrowing divorce case and an epic custody battle. With everything at stake for both Eliza and Matt, and neither party willing to give up their little girl without a fight, it's high drama in the courts. Let battle begin...
On a hot summer's day, a lorry slews across a motorway and causes a huge pile-up. In that split-second accident, lives are changed forever. Jonathan is a successful surgeon returning from a liaison with his mistress, Abi; Georgia is a young actress on her way to an audition for the part that could make her career; Toby is a bridegroom travelling to his wedding with his best friend, Barney; Mary is a widow, trying to get to the airport to reunite with her wartime first love, and William is a young farmer who witnesses the crash from across the hill. One incident - and only one person who really knows what happened. THE BEST OF TIMES is an exhilarating, engaging novel of secrets, hopes and worlds that are torn apart.
Penny Vincenzi, master of the contemporary blockbuster, returns with a moving, engaging portrait of people coping with a notorious financial disaster and its unpredictable emotional repercussions. Set during the boom-and-bust years of the 1980s, An Absolute Scandal follows the lives of a group of people drawn together by their mutual monetary woes when the great financial institution Lloyd's undergoes a devastating downturn. For Nigel Cowper, this means the destruction of his family business; his wife, Lucinda, is willing to do everything she can to help him—except give up her irresistible lover. The powerful, charismatic banker Simon Beaumont and his wife, a highly successful advertising executive, lose everything they worked so hard to acquire; but the ultimate tragedy is something that neither one could have anticipated. The well-to-do are not the only ones suffering: a self-sufficient widow is suddenly deep in debt; a single mother struggles to maintain a comfortable home for her children; and a schoolmaster and his frustrated wife find that financial problems deepen the cracks in their troubled marriage. As their lives begin a downward spiral, these characters intersect in ways they never saw coming. Written in what has become her signature style of both wit and candor, Penny Vincenzi draws back the curtain and offers an inside view of the greed and social power plays that occur behind the closed doors of upper-crust society . . . where money isn’t everything. Sometimes, it’s the only thing.
