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Stolen Beginnings

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Marian Deacon has always been overshadowed by her cousin Madeleine, a glamorous, selfish model who will stop at nothing to reach the top. But their ordinary lives suddenly change with the arrival of Paul O'Connell, a handsome, charismatic writer who draws them into the mysterious disappearance of Olivia Hastings and the glamour and danger of her life in Italy and New York.

Stolen Beginnings is a compelling story of what happens when girls become women, and when love - and fate - get in their way.

736 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

46 people are currently reading
282 people want to read

About the author

Susan Lewis

67 books1,203 followers
Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.



Susan Lewis is the bestselling author of over forty books across the genres of family drama, thriller, suspense and crime. She is also the author of Just One More Day and One Day at a Time, the moving memoirs of her childhood in Bristol during the 1960s. Following periods of living in Los Angeles and the South of France, she currently lives in Gloucestershire with her husband James, stepsons Michael and Luke, and mischievous dogs Coco and Lulu.

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5 stars
192 (43%)
4 stars
131 (29%)
3 stars
80 (18%)
2 stars
25 (5%)
1 star
14 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
5 reviews
July 26, 2012


Gripping, couldn't put it down!!
Profile Image for katasokolov.
412 reviews1 follower
March 8, 2022
Nikdy bych se byla nenadála, že dám této autorce tak nízké hodnocení….
Tohle byla ale vážně patlanina plná nesympatických, duševně nemocných a nerozhodných jedinců (a to teď nemluvím jen o Paulovi a Sergiovi :D).
Velice špatně se mi orientovalo v ději a celá zápletka byla tak přitažená za vlasy, že to až hraničilo s nesmyslností…
Mám autorku velice ráda a její knihy vychvaluji, kde se jen dá, ale tahle kniha byla úlet ! Postavy chovající se naprosto nelogicky, zdařile sekundující největšímu magorovi v knize. Autorka ve svých knihách často zmiňuje duševní choroby a deziluze, ale čeho je moc, tak toho je sakra příliš a v této knize to platí desetinásobně …..
Profile Image for Poorvi .
9 reviews
December 20, 2019
Too many characters as usual hence a 729 page read. But I really enjoyed this book! Geez, it was good.
11 reviews3 followers
May 2, 2022
Thrilling Rollercoaster!

I am grateful for Lamaze breathing. Such clever characters and mystery. Such lust and pain and grief. If you are not up for a wild ride, don’t read it!
Profile Image for Sue Wynn.
32 reviews
February 7, 2024
Excellent book, I was having trouble putting it down a really gripping story.
Profile Image for Sue.
Author 1 book40 followers
July 26, 2012
The prologue features a horrific scene of violence that made very unpleasant reading.

The first chapter describes a highly promiscuous older teenager who likes nothing better to strip, looked after by her over-humble cousin who nevertheless sees nothing wrong with over-spending her credit card and drinking too much.

It's a long book. Did I really want to follow the lives of these two unrealistic women, knowing that there would probably be far too much detail about promiscuous behaviour, and almost certainly a link with the violence of the prologue along the way?

Was it going to make good bedtime reading...?

My only possible answer to both questions was a resounding 'no'.

I hate to give up on a book. Maybe one day I'll get back to it. But in the meantime, this has joined a very small handful of books which I am abandoning.
Profile Image for Tracy Barrall.
93 reviews2 followers
October 19, 2011
Madeleine and Marian are cousin's flat broke living in Bristol and going nowhere fast until Marian meets Paul O'Connell! Madeleine steals Paul from Marian along with some money and everything changes as they get caught up in the mysterious story of the disappearance of the American Olivia Hastings. They don't know it but the now not talking cousins find themselves approaching Olivia's disappearance from opposite ends. Traveling between Bristol, America and Italy can all be resolved before it is too late!!! It never ceases to amaze me the imagination of some people who can come up with the idea of a story let alone write it into a book. Well done Susan another can't put down book!
Profile Image for Jamie Rose.
532 reviews15 followers
May 4, 2014
This was OK, it's a big chunk of a book though (700+) pages.

It did really remind me of one of her other books [b] Obessesion [/b] but it's not bad overall.

Maddy and Marian are cousins, Maddy is beautiful and Marian, not so much. the girls grow up very close, but things change when they grow up and take a flat together in Bristol.
Profile Image for Karen.
18 reviews3 followers
February 13, 2013
Took me a while to get into this book. Could have given up half way through, but am glad I persevered as it was a good story all in all.
21 reviews1 follower
May 28, 2014
Thought this started really well and enjoyed most of it but really didn't like the ending - found it very disturbing!
39 reviews
June 13, 2014
A very good read, kept me guessing until the very end
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews

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