Summertime

by Charlotte Bingham

When Trilby meets Lewis, the all-powerful proprietor of a newspaper group, she suspects that her life might be about to change, but not, as it transpires, forever. For not only does Lewis wish to acquire her cartoon strip, but Trilby herself. She is inevitably drawn to this handsome, older and far more sophisticated personality, just as Lewis is, from the first, determined to marry Trilby - despite the opposition of her friends and family.

Genres: Fiction

10 pages, Audio Cassette

First published June 4, 2001

About the author

The Honourable Charlotte Mary Thérèse Bingham was born on 29 June 1942 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, wrote detective stories and was a secret member of MI5. Her mother, Madeleine Bingham, née Madeleine Mary Ebel, was a playwright. Charlotte first attended a school in London, but from the age of seven to 16, she went to the Priory of Our Lady's Good Counsel school in Haywards Heath. After she left school, she went to stay in Paris with some French aristocrats with the intention of learning French. She had written since she was 10 years old and her first piece of work was a thriller called Death's Ticket. She wrote her humorous autobiography, called Coronet Among the Weeds, when she was 19, and not long before her twentieth birthday a literary agent discovered her celebrating at the Ritz. He was a friend of her parents and he took off the finished manuscript of her autobiography. In 1963, this was published by Heinemanns and was a best seller.

In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[penelopewanders]

This reminds me of another book I read a while ago, about a family trying to figure out their mother's past… can't think of the title or the author just now, but there too there was a young woman who seemed to have all anyone could wish for but was in fact the victim of an obsessed and cruel wealthy husband. Probably the Secret Keeper by kate Morton. That one went between war-time london and contemporary times. This one too concerns a young woman who discovers that her Prince Charming is not as charming as she'd thought. A good read, with a spunky heroine.

[PagePilgrim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story and characters. A story of emotional abuse which is on equal footing with physical abuse and no amount of money can make it acceptable
You can feel the emotional journey Trilby goes on- from a luxurious but controlling and tense lifestyle to a more simple but peaceful one. You can feel the relief!

[Amna Riaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, even though the topic of mental abuse is generally too dark for me. However, I found the ending of the third section particularly disappointing. I'm not sure why the author chose to conclude the story with the death of a friend; it felt unnecessary and abrupt. The story could have ended without that event.

[Meenehansgmail.Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly charming story, wonderful characters, enjoyed every minute of it

[Ali Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have had this forever on my reading pile. It was quite a pleasant little story but I did go off a little in the second part. However I persevered to the end.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A girl who draws cartoons for friends is spotted by a newspaper tycoon. She grows up, and gets married, which brings new problems. A moving book with a dramatic climax, but the last chapter left too many unanswered questions, in my view.

[Amal Zahrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have the same feeling with chanel that the story unfinish. It was a nice story in the begining until the half way of the story, to be honest i don't like the ending, but I still give 3 stars for this book!

[Jae · Rating 1 out of 5]

Badly written - first Charlotte Bingham book I have ever read and will not read another. Terrible waste of time but kept thinking it may get better further into the story due to authors apparently good reputation. Very weak story

[Emmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt that the story was somewhat left unfinished...

[Kate Millin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of an arty young girl and her mismatched union with a rich and controlling newspaper boss

[Mariola Izydor · Rating 1 out of 5]

did not finish book, it wasn't for me.

[Jemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12273241

[Jer Wei · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was good in the beginning, with lots of potentials, until the very end. I was left scratching my head wondering what was the whole point of the story.

Was it never make a hasty decision about marrying a much older and wealthier man? Or was it if you're rich and powerful, you could get away with anything?

The ending was distasteful, to say the least. A perfectly innocent girl, ruined.

[C R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book from start to finish. Trilby was abit naive but I think that really added to the story and she was naive in a sweet way.