by Lucinda Riley (Author)
From the author of the international bestseller, Hothouse Flower, Lucinda Riley's The Light Behind the Window is a breathtaking and intense story of love, war and, above all, forgiveness.
The present: Emilie de la Martinieres has always fought against her aristocratic background, but after the death of her glamorous, distant mother, she finds herself alone in the world and sole inheritor of her grand childhood home in the south of France. An old notebook of poems leads her in search of the mysterious and beautiful Sophia, whose tragic love affair changed the course of her family history. As Emilie unravels the story, she too embarks on her own journey of discovery, realizing that the chateau may provide clues to her own difficult past and finally unlock the future.
The past: London 1943. A young office clerk, Constance Carruthers, is drafted into the SOE, arriving in occupied Paris during the climax of the conflict. Separated from her contact in her very first hours in France, she stumbles into the heart of a wealthy family who are caught up in a deadly game of secrets and lies. Forced to surrender her identity and all ties to her homeland and her beloved husband, Constance finds herself drawn into a complex web of deception, the repercussions of which will affect generations to come.
** Note to readers: In the US, this book is published under the title The Lavender Garden. **
Format: Paperback
Pages: 544
Edition: Main Market
Publisher: Pan
Published: 30 Aug 2012
ISBN 10: 1447218426
ISBN 13: 9781447218425
Book Overview: Unlocking the past is the key to the future
Lucinda Riley was born in Ireland, and after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book aged twenty-four. Her novel Hothouse Flower (also called The Orchid House) was selected by the UK's Richard and Judy Book Club and has been translated into thirty-four languages and sold over eight million copies worldwide. She is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author.
Lucinda's novels include The Seven Sisters, a seven-book series telling the story of adopted sisters and based allegorically on the mythology of the famous star constellation. Book one, The Seven Sisters, and Book two, The Storm Sister, have been No. 1 bestsellers in Europe, and the rights to a multi-season TV series have already been optioned by a Hollywood production company. The Storm Sister has been nominated for the prestigious Premio Bancarella literary prize in Italy.
Lucinda is also the author of a contemporary novel The Olive Tree, set during one long hot summer in Cyprus, and based on a family holiday. Lucinda and her son Harry have personally narrated the audiobook together.
She is also rewriting and releasing a number of books originally published when writing under her maiden name of Lucinda Edmonds, including The Italian Girl and The Angel Tree.
Lucinda lives with her husband and four children on the North Norfolk coast in England and West Cork, Ireland.
When not writing, travelling or running around after her children, she loves reading books that she hasn't written with a glass or two of Provencal rose!