An Outrageous Affair

June 16, 2008
The latest sexy, overblown saga from Vincenzi's British backlist tracks Lady Caroline Hunterton over 30 years, from the thick of WWII to the height of the counterculture. Her story is framed by an about-to-be-published tell-all from elusive yellow journalist Magnus Phillips, whose book unearths Caroline's tragic and scandalous past, threatening everything she holds dear, especially the memory of Brendan FitzPatrick, her first love, and their daughter, Fleur. Brendan, given custody of Fleur, is lured to Hollywood and his doom, while Caroline marries Lord Hunterton and raises three other children, including Chloe, who has no idea of her mother's past until she discovers the long-buried secret. When scandal-author Phillips is increasingly threatened, Caroline understands, perhaps too late, that the story he's writing is more than a tawdry airing of family laundry and could quite literally be a matter of life and death. Vincenzi provides plenty of heat and intrigue, but the story bogs down in episodes from Fleur's work life and excerpts from Phillips's unpublished book. A significant number of the multiple twists are exasperatingly expected, but Vincenzi gives the sprawling whole enough oomph to carry one all the way through.

August 1, 2008
The author of No Angel (2003) and Sheer Abandon (2007) offers another sprawling saga, this one centered around a spirited Englishwomanand her two daughters. Caroline Miller falls hard for dashing American soldier Brendan FitzPatrick, but his disappearance during World War II leads her to give up the baby she conceived shortly before he shipped out. By the time Brendan returns, Caroline has married another man and is expecting a child with him. Caroline refuses to leave her husband, but she implores Brendan to reclaim their baby. He does, naming her Fleur and taking her back to New York with him, while Caroline raises her other daughter, Chloe, in England. When they reach adulthood, the girls fates intertwine in unexpected ways when Chloes husband appears to be tied to the scandalous death of Fleurs beloved father. Fans of Barbara Taylor Bradfords multigenerational stories will likely flock to Vincenzis latest, and although some might be put off by the sometimes turgid prose and stock characters, the mystery will likely keep them turning the pages.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)