DAS VERSPRECHEN DER JAHRE - VINCENZI PENNY - Random Germania

A PERFECT HERITAGE - VINCENZI PENNY - Headline

A reissue of Penny Vincenzi's irresistible first novel, with a new introduction by the author

Two clever, stylish, and ambitious women are fighting for control of a multimillion cosmetics empire. What is the secret that lies behind its charming, ruthless creator, Julian Morell? And why, when he dies, does he leave half his fortune to a complete stranger? Here are the designer interiors, the jewels, the cars, and the to-die-for couture of the rich and the super-rich—the glittering, fabulous world Julian created for himself, and the women who loved him. And here is a love story—poignant, sexy, and tempestuous—featuring a mother, a mistress, a wife, and a daughter, all of whom are overshadowed by old sins.

It’s 1958, and Eliza Clark has it all: good looks, a privileged upbringing, and a fast-paced career as a successful magazine editor. High fashion means high life, and she’s constantly jetting to Paris and Milan to take in the latest by Chanel, Dior, and Pucci. But when she falls head over heels for Matt Snow, an edgy working-class boy, and becomes pregnant, she is expected to give up her glamorous lifestyle and get married.

Although their marriage is intensely passionate, it soon begins to fracture. When their divorce ends in a dramatic custody battle over their little girl, Emmie, and Summercourt, the country estate that has been in her family for generations, it leaves Eliza with a difficult decision: Love? Or money?

It all comes down to love or money in a harrowing custody battle over a little girl, set against the glossy backdrop of the magazine and advertising worlds in 1960s London.
 
A privileged girl from a privileged class, Eliza has a dazzling career in the magazine world of the 1960s. But when she falls deeply in love with Matt, an edgy working-class boy, she gives up her ritzy, fast-paced lifestyle to get married.
    
By the end of the decade, however, their marriage has suffered a harrowing breakdown, culminating in divorce and a dramatic courtroom custody battle over their little girl. Also at risk is Eliza's gorgeous family home, a pawn in the game, which she can't bear to give up.
    
True to form, Penny Vincenzi introduces a devious cast of characters seemingly plucked from the pages of sixties- and seventies-era magazines, as she deftly maneuvers between the glamorous, moneyed worlds of fashion and advertising, and a heart-wrenching custody battle going on in the courtroom where the social mores of the time are on full display.

Reveals the stories of one young woman who is widowed after only five years of marriage, a wife who rethinks her feelings after witnessing disturbing changes in her husband, and a woman who wonders if the war will free her from a brutal marriage.

A best-selling tale in Britain follows the experiences of doctor's wife Cassia Fallon, whose unexpectedly large inheritance causes her to question her marriage, future and sensible lifestyle before she starts wondering about the negative influence of her good fortune on her beliefs. By the author of Sheer Abandon. Reprint.

€ 12,60

In a matter of seconds, absolutely everything can change …

In this masterfully crafted page-turner, peopled with intense characters and centered on one devastating moment that involves them all, plot-twist queen Penny Vincenzi vividly captures how the actions of one person can dramatically affect many in the blink of an eye.

On an ordinary Friday afternoon, on a major motorway outside of London, a trailer truck suddenly and violently swerves across fives lanes of traffic—careening cars into one another like dominoes and leaving a trail of chaos and confusion. Within the space of a minute, an astounding miles-long pileup has amassed, and, as the survivors await help, their stories unfold.

Vincenzi expertly maneuvers the plot between the panic-stricken husband trapped in his car with his young mistress, his adultery sure to be discovered; the bridegroom trying frantically to get to the church on time (he won’t); the widow on her way to reunite with the love of her life after sixty years, now forced to ponder whether she’ll ever see him again; the junior doctor waiting to receive the crash victims in the ER … And at the epicenter of this field of destruction lies the truck driver, suffering from memory loss, while the mysterious hitchhiker, the only person who knows what really happened, has fled the scene.

Spellbound by these intimate and evocative tales, we watch as fate takes its powerful course and the far-reaching effects of the crash ripple through the lives of hundreds of people. Written with incredible verve, candor, and wit, Penny Vincenzi reveals human behavior in all its fascinating detail as she challenges her characters to face crisis boldly—and she surprises us with the results at every turn.

The number-one bestseller in Britain, Windfall is perhaps Penny Vincenzi's most riveting family saga yet. After smashing successes with the American publication of six of Vincenzi's “marvelously engrossing” (Barbara Taylor Bradford) novels—with more than 500,000 books in print—Overlook is thrilled to offer Windfall to American readers.

Sensible Cassia Fallon has been married to her doctor husband for seven years when her godmother leaves her a huge fortune. For the first time in her life, she is able to do exactly as she likes, and she starts to question her marriage, her past, her present, and her future. But where did her inheritance really come from and why? Too soon the windfall has become a corrupting force—one that Cassia cannot resist.

Vincenzi's sharp eye for detail, intricate plots, and cast of vivid characters set in “a world of engrossing and unforgettable glamour and passion” (Dominick Dunne) have made her novels irresistible, and Windfall is no exception.

In a matter of seconds, absolutely everything can change …

In this masterfully crafted page-turner, peopled with intense characters and centered on one devastating moment that involves them all, plot-twist queen Penny Vincenzi vividly captures how the actions of one person can dramatically affect many in the blink of an eye.

On an ordinary Friday afternoon, on a major motorway outside of London, a trailer truck suddenly and violently swerves across fives lanes of traffic—careening cars into one another like dominoes and leaving a trail of chaos and confusion. Within the space of a minute, an astounding miles-long pileup has amassed, and, as the survivors await help, their stories unfold.

Vincenzi expertly maneuvers the plot between the panic-stricken husband trapped in his car with his young mistress, his adultery sure to be discovered; the bridegroom trying frantically to get to the church on time (he won't); the widow on her way to reunite with the love of her life after sixty years, now forced to ponder whether she'll ever see him again; the junior doctor waiting to receive the crash victims in the ER … And at the epicenter of this field of destruction lies the truck driver, suffering from memory loss, while the mysterious hitchhiker, the only person who knows what really happened, has fled the scene.

Spellbound by these intimate and evocative tales, we watch as fate takes its powerful course and the far-reaching effects of the crash ripple through the lives of hundreds of people. Written with incredible verve, candor, and wit, Penny Vincenzi reveals human behavior in all its fascinating detail as she challenges her characters to face crisis boldly—and she surprises us with the results at every turn.

An inside view of the greed and social power plays behind the closed doors of upper-crust society, An Absolute Scandal looks at a world where money isn't everything . . . sometimes, it's the only thing. And when the money disappears in the thick of a financial crisis, the real story begins.For Nigel Cowper, this means the destruction of his family business; his wife, Lucinda, is willing to do everything she can to help him—except give up her irresistible lover. The powerful, charismatic banker Simon Beaumont and his equally successful wife Elizabeth lose everything they've worked so hard to acquire; but the ultimate tragedy is something that neither one could have anticipated. Yet the well-to-do are not the only ones whose lives are upended: a self-sufficient widow, a single mother, and a schoolmaster find that their lives are also turned upside down in this deliciously readable tale.

An American publication of the author's first novel finds the third wife of a charismatic businessman telling a complicated lie in order to safeguard her marriage and children, a decision she subsequently evaluates at the height of an emotional crisis. By the author of Almost a Crime. Reprint.

€ 14,80