Stolen Beginnings

by Susan Lewis

Marian lives life in the shadow of her more glamorous cousin until she lands a perfect job in film production, discovers some startling truths about herself, and learns to stand on her own

Genres: Romance, Fiction

596 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Maria]

Susan Lewis, Stolen Beginnings is a gripping tale with a captivating plot and unexpected twists. be beautifully written. The story follows Marian and her cousin Madeleine, who discover love, work, life and navigating emotions and people's psychological profiles, unsettled mind and the effect it has on decision making, shocking truths about who to trust, many emotions come to mind, the main ones dignity, respect, manipulation, control, narcissism and psychopathy. leading to a thrilling journey of family secrets that they end up involved in with out asking for it. While the book is engaging, some female characters may come across as disempowered or overly vulnerable, which might impact readers connections and some would identify with the abuse. For me it became annoying to see nearly all women in this book easily manipulated. So Overall, it is a compelling read, especially for fans of suspenseful family dramas...

[Sarah]

Gripping, couldn't put it down!!

[katasokolov]

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 …..

[Poorvi]

Too many characters as usual hence a 729 page read. But I really enjoyed this book! Geez, it was good.

[Kat Braden]

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!

[Sue Wynn]

Excellent book, I was having trouble putting it down a really gripping story.

[Sue]

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.

[Tracy Barrall]

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!

[Jamie Rose]

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.

[Sue]

Great read

[Samantha Parker]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/7333956

[Karen]

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.

[Georgie Summer]

Really enjoyed it, lots of unexpected twists.

[Gill]

Thought this started really well and enjoyed most of it but really didn't like the ending - found it very disturbing!

[Diana]

A very good read, kept me guessing until the very end