Eine fesselnde Familiengeschichte im England der Neunzigerjahre
London 1991. Jahrzehntelang konnte die Seidendynastie Denby Silk einen Erfolg nach dem anderen in der Firmengeschichte vorweisen. Nun zieht sich die Inhaberin Amber mit ihrem zweiten Mann Jay ins Privatleben zurück, um sich ganz der Familie zu widmen – einer Familie voller Geheimnisse: Der attraktive Robert wird von seiner Vergangenheit eingeholt. Die naive Kate lernt die dunklen Seiten der Liebe kennen. Und Cassandra hat noch eine Rechnung offen. Liebe, Missgunst und heimliche Leidenschaft: Ambers 80. Geburtstag wird für einige Familienmitglieder zum Wendepunkt ihres Lebens ...
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialized bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan; she was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, and suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her husband bought her the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels, at a time when he could ill afford it. He died at the beginning of 21st century.
She earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for three air-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her more historical romance novels, she adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70 of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family.
Too many rich and/or evil people - unbelievable characters and antics .possibly holiday read but I don’t like reading about this sort of life or nasty people.
3.5 from me. From the first page, it bears similarity with the plot and style of Sidney Sheldon's Masters of the Game; albeit not as severely intense. In fact its a light read but with various family conflicts that were a delight to read.