Constance

by RosieThomas (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.40

  The new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Iris and Ruby. Connie Thorne was a foundling, a child left by her mother for strangers to find. Forty years on, without ever being able to discover her true identity, she has put all her energy into creating a flawless shell for herself. As a child, she was musical, her sister Jeanette was deaf. One of them was dark, the other sunny. Yet they both fell in love with the same man. And her feelings for Bill, Jeanette's husband, are the one part of herself that Connie can never reshape. When she hears the news that her sister is dying, the last thing Connie wants is to leave her Bali home and return to London. But with the bitterness of betrayal still between them, Connie and Jeanette have to learn to forgive each other. Surrounded by family, can Constance make her peace with who she really is -- and who she loves?

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.40

  The new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Iris and Ruby. Constance has made a new life for herself in a foreign land. She is a musician, a composer, a highly paid arranger of other people's music, living in a lively expatriate community in Bali. There the world is idyllic -- beautiful beaches framed with lush, green trees, charming small houses, and a relaxed, convivial lifestyle. So when the news comes of her sister's serious illness the last thing she wants to do is return to London. For her sister is much older than Constance -- and not a real relative. Constance was adopted. While she never felt completely at home with her 'family', nor did she ever want to find her birth mother. But none of these are the real reason she is so reluctant to go home. It is far more complicated than that: before leaving London, she fell in love with her sister's husband. But Constance does go back to London. She discovers a great deal more about her sister and family, gets to know her 18-year old nephew and his Lithuanian girlfriend, learns about her family history and the hidden connections with her past.Most importantly of all, she must face the dilemma of her forbidden love; and in doing so, discover a new identity for herself. Rosie Thomas has a remarkable ability to write about human dilemmas and Constance is one of her most endearing characters.