The Only Sin

by Julie Ellis

From frontier Australia to Roaring Twenties New York and Nazi-occupied Paris, Lillu Laval pursues romance - and the mystery of her aristocratic English father's identity. Deserted by the handsome, but prolifigate Jacques, she raises her two children - and a colossal cosmetics empire - alone.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical

684 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1986

About the author

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

From the inside cover of the Kappa Books edition of Eden:

Julie Ellis was born in Columbus, Georgia. She moved to New York at age 16 with her parents, after her high school graduation. Julie studied drama, and was part of the mid-'50s Off-Broadway scene as actress/playwright/co-producer. Seven of her plays were produced Off-Broadway and presented on the summer hotel/bungalow colony circuits. She wrote 76 sides of children's records (hitting BILLBOARD'S Bestseller List). Her first paperback novel was published in 1960 and between 1960 and 1974 she wrote 143 contemporary, gothic, romantic suspense novels and 3 non-fiction titles that were published by major paperback houses.

Julie has written one hardcover/softcover bestseller per year (a number of early paperback originals now being re-published in hardcover in the United Kingdom). Ellis is published in thirteen countries. A favorite among library readers across the country, Julie regularly appears on LIBRARY JOURNAL'S "Pre-publication Bestseller Lists." In 1993 she made the United Kingdom's Registrar of Public Lending Rights List of the most-read authors in the United Kingdom Library System (minimum of 300,000 loans per author).

A single mother since 1972 (first separated, then widowed), Julie considers her major productions her daughter Susan and her son Richard. Julie is a passionate environmentalist whose convictions appear regularly in her novels (the devastation of our Northwest forests in LOYALTIES, the unnecessary deaths caused by the tobacco industry in LASTING TREASURES, gun control in COMMITMENT). Julie is a vegetarian with occasional lapses due to social circumstances. She alternates between her Manhattan apartment and beach house in Montauk.

Reviews

[Harlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my to this day favorite books. It's an old one. My family owns a country house and we have a huge bookshelf of books and half of 'em are falling apart. I don't know why I picked this book to randomly read but I did. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I almost missed meals for it. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and the start is kinda slow but once you get invested you can't put it down. It's been about a year and some change since I read it again but it has a female protagonist and she's a BAMF. More than that it treats feminine care about image in a very realistic way. She builds a cosmetic empire but the way she internally treats it is beautiful and the BS she had to go through with the not so pleasant expression of the male gender is awesome. I'd give a better review if I'd JUST read it but this book sticks in my mind as one of my favorites. I was so sad when I got to the end of it simply because it ended. If you have the patience to read flowery language, please give it a fair try.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 rating) —- I thought the characters in this book, in particular, Lilli, were great, and the different settings were amazing. I loved that we saw her leave her small town life to find success in the major cities of the world, and how she did it all with style and grace! I thought the little details in this book really made the difference and made you feel like you were there during her Paris and New York days. I also loved how Lilli’s life unfolded around the major social events of the last century and shows how these events touched everyone in a very real, human way.

However, there were some negatives to this book, most of which I am happy to contribute to the fact that it was written in 1986 and so were to be expected. For example, there were some very cliched parts and ridiculous parts, like when Lilli becomes a spy! Seems like it was just thrown in so she could have some involvement in the war! However, as cliched and silly as it was, for me, it didn’t take anything away from the book.

There was one major thing that I could not comprehend, but again, maybe this is because it was written in 1986 and I’m of a different generation, was the fact that Lilli got back together with Jacques after he raped her. She insists that she would never get back with him after that but soon enough she is willing to give up everything to be with him again when she thinks he died on the titanic and then remarries him. Now, there could be an argument here about control the abusers have over their victims, but I don’t think that was the case here, especially with the decade this book was written in. Instead, I think it was a plot development and it just didn’t sit right with me as Lilli is a completely different person when it comes to her work and family life.

The only other thing that is worth mentioning is the fact that it was very rushed in the beginning and the end. Within the first 30 pages she has met Jacques and they have run off together, gotten married and travelled to Australia - with only brief mentions of the actually wedding, wedding night and journey!!! There were sections of time that were long and well developed but a lot of big events skimmed over. As it covers her life until she is 80 there was a lot to cover, not to mention the social upheaval and major world events that happened during her life, so it is understandable that details couldn’t be included for everything. However, the pacing did seem a big off, large parts were skipped over with just one sentence to reference to sum up that period of time, especially the ending, were significant moments in American history were just rushed over and you were just bombarded with lots of information about her many grandkids and their personal lives, which was all quite forgettable.

So there were positives and negatives about this book but Lilli’s strength in character and zest for life, as well as the different eras it was set in and the many fabulous setting, made this book an enjoyable read.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A saga covering 18 to 80 of Lilli Laval's life and all surrounding her struggles, heartaches to build a beauty business initialling to support her family but eventually to be and empire to leave to them. A strong passionate woman whose romantic live gave her much grief in her early years. I admit there were times I felt like reaching into the pages and shaking some sense into her. She's clever, hard working and family is all a true Jewish matriarch. Her life plays out over 2 world wars, the Korean war, the Vietnam war and the political machinations in America at the time. Anti Jewish sentiment during the Mc Carthy years touched members of her family.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good, don't waste your time. The story sounds great on the back cover but the main subjects mentioned that intrigued me to read it played such a minor role in the book, it was very disappointing. It got repetitive towards the end and included subjects which were irrelevant to the characters and the story line.