Bøker av Kathleen Tessaro

An enchanting novel brimming with poignancy, humour, enchantment and insight, this is a stunning debut. Imagine an Audrey Hepburn film in the present day...It was a slim, grey volume entitled Elegance...Louise Canova is at a crossroads in her life. Her marriage is faltering and the insecurities of adolescence have returned to haunt her. Browsing in a second-hand bookshop, she stumbles across a faded grey volume. Written by the formidable French fashion expert, Madame Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, Elegance is an encyclopedia of style. It promises to transform plain women into creatures of poise at all times. And from Accessories to Zippers, there is nothing that Madame Dariaux can't advise upon - including inattentive husbands, false friends, and the powerful bond between mothers and daughters.When Louise vows to follow Madame's advice, her life is transformed in ways she never imagined. Within the book's pages lie clues to her own past. And as she begins to unravel them, she discovers a courage she never dreamt possible.However, everything, even elegance, has its price.Starting with A and finishing with Z, Elegance is a unique journey of timeless fashion, true friendship, and the rare, unexpected gift of love.

A brilliant, unforgettable novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Perfume Collector.Can the secrets of one woman's past change another woman's future?Cate Albion is a gifted young artist at a crossroads in her life. Looking to escape New York for the summer, she takes a job in her aunt's London auction house and is soon sent on assignment to the English countryside to value the contents of Endsleigh House, the once gracious but now crumbling estate of a former Jazz Age socialite. There, hidden in the back of a dusty bookshelf, Cate discovers an old shoebox, and inside, a peculiar assortment of objects, including an exquisite pair of 1930s dancing shoes; a faded photograph of a handsome young sailor, and a rare Tiffany pearl and emerald bracelet.Intrigued, Cate sets out to learn more about the box and its contents, and becomes immersed in the mystery of its owner, Diana "Baby" Blythe, the younger of the infamous, glamorous Blythe sisters. Bright, beautiful, and reckless, Baby was the most famous debutante of her generation . . . until she suddenly disappeared entirely from view. As a shocking tale of love and betrayal begins to unravel, Cate finds herself being drawn deeper into Baby's tragic life story--one that will force Cate to confront some dark truths about her own choices.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Perfume Collector comes this charming, witty novel about a "professional" flirt."Unique situation for an attractive, well-mannered, morally flexible young man. Hours irregular. Pay generous. Discretion a must..."When struggling, out-of-work actor, Hughie Venables-Smythe sees the mysterious job description in the classifieds, he's convinced he's found his destiny. For, though he's become accustomed to running out of credit on his cell phone, sleeping on his sister's sofa, and begging the waitress at the local café to let him slide yet again on his bill, he longs to treat his lover--the sexy, sophisticated, and amorously ruthless lingerie designer, Leticia Vane, to the finer things in life. But how is he to win her heart if he can't even pay for dinner? When he learns that his lucrative new position means flirting with married women who have been neglected by their spouses, he can't believe his luck. Soon initiated into the extraordinary secret fraternity of the Professional Flirt, Hughie promises to have an exceptional career ahead of him. However, the life of a Flirt is a curiously lonely calling and there's one absolute rule his new employer has: he must remain single. Only--how can he live without the delicious Leticia Vane?Surely, there's nothing wrong with using a few of his newly polished romantic skills on the side to quietly seduce the woman he loves . . . is there?As clueless as he is handsome, Hughie gamely decides to throw his already complicated life into utter chaos . . . and discovers exactly why a Flirt's professional and personal life should never mix.

From New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Tessaro comes a poignant, funny, and unforgettable story of real life, real love, and fantasy--and the changes they put you through. 1986. Starry-eyed and ready to take the world by storm, Evie Garlick leaves her small town of Eden, Ohio, to study drama in London, intent on becoming a star of the classical stage. But when she arrives in England, it quickly becomes clear she's way out of her element--and completely unprepared for what fate has in store for her.Luckily, her new flatmate, the larger-than-life Robbie, immediately takes the bewildered Evie under her wing. Glamorous and bohemian, Robbie's unorthodox Greenwich Village upbringing and reckless lust for life both dazzle and astonish Evie. Soon the drama offstage in their small student flat is more exciting than any Broadway play. And when Evie meets Jake, a defiantly self-assured young musician bent on two things--success and her--she finds herself suddenly in far too deep, painfully in love, out of control, and yet thrillingly alive, questioning everything about herself--and her dreams.2001. Robbie has been dead for five years, and Evie, now a single mother, is still living in London. Resigned to earning a living by teaching drama to night students, her life bears little resemblance to the one she'd imagined for herself fifteen years ago. Her carefully ordered routine and beloved son help to keep the memories and regrets at bay--most of the time. But when the past pays Evie a visit, she's forced to confront the ambitious young woman she used to be and re-examine the choices she made...and those she couldn't--in order to claim a new future.

Now reissued with a beautiful and modern new cover, the debut novel from the bestselling and beloved author of THE PERFUME COLLECTOR.Louise C. wants what Jackie O had . . .Unhappy with her looks, her life, and her empty marriage, Louise Canova needs help--and she finds it in a secondhand bookstore. A forty-year-old encyclopedia of style titled Elegance, the slim volume by formidable French fashion expert Madame Dariaux promises to transform even the plainest of women into creatures of poise and grace. It is a fairy godmother in print, an A-to-Z manual with essential advice that Louise vows to take to heart. But within its pages lie not only clues from her past, but also powerful lessons for the future.And as the old Louise gives way to the stunning new, she's about to find out that there's more to every life than what appears on the surface ... and that everything, even elegance, has its price.

The stunning new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Perfume Collector.'Beautifully written... wonderfully absorbing with a clever twist in the tale' Isabel Wolff, author of GhostwrittenMae Fanning seizes on a job at a tiny, exclusive Boston antiques shop as the fresh start she desperately needs. It opens a window to new world, one peopled with rare and rich characters. But the day that enigmatic socialite Diana van der Laar walks in, Mae's hidden past returns.As a moth to a flame, Mae is unable to resist Diana's heady, seductive glamour and glittering life. Yet, like the rare objects in the shop, very little is what it appears - Diana included.Moving from Jazz-Age New York to Boston in the grip of the Great Depression, Rare Objects is a rich and gripping story of what it means to reach for a braver, bolder life.

A secret history of scent, memory and desire from the Sunday Times bestselling author of ELEGANCE and THE DEBUTANTE.One letter will turn newly-married Grace Munroe's life upside down:'Our firm is handling the estate of the deceased Mrs Eva D'Orsey and it is our duty to inform you that you are named as the chief beneficiary in her will.'So begins a journey which leads Grace through the streets of Paris and into the seductive world of perfumers and their muses. An abandoned perfume shop on the Left Bank will lead her to unravel the heartbreaking story of her mysterious benefactor, an extraordinary woman who bewitched high society in 1920s New York and Paris.

Can the secrets of one woman's past change another woman's future?Endsleigh House stands, crumbling and gracious, on the south-west coast of England, its rooms shut up and dusty. But what secrets do they hold?Cate, an exile from New York, is sent to help value the contents of the once-grand Georgian house. Cataloguing its' contents with Jack - a man with his own dark past, she comes across a hidden shoebox containing an exquisite pair of dancing shoes from the 1930s, along with a mysterious collection of objects: a photograph, a dance card and a Tiffany bracelet. Returning to London, rather than face the questions lingering in her own life, Cate immerses herself in piecing together the clues contained in the box to uncover a story, that of Irene Blythe and her sister Diana - two of the most famous debutantes of their generation. The tale that unfolds is one of dark, addictive love, and leads Cate to face up to secrets of her own. Can the secrets of Baby Blythe's past change Cate's own ability to live and love again?

A delicious romantic comedy from the bestselling author of Elegance'Unique situation available for attractive, well mannered, reasonably educated young man.Hours irregular. Pay generous. Discretion a must.'In a small office in Half Moon Street, Hughie Venables-Smythe discovers the world of the professional flirt. A timeless art, it can save a marriage or lift a heart faster than any therapy.Letitia Vane runs a bespoke lingerie shop in Belgravia and understands just how to make women feel beautiful. But she cannot let her guard down and fall in love, least of all with Hughie.Olivia Bourgault de Coudray is in an unhappy marriage to a very wealthy man. When a series of beautiful notecards begins to appear, with intriguing clues handwritten on each, her interest is piqued. But the same clues are being delivered to Letitia.Who is flirting with whom? And is flirtation as innocent as it seems - or can it lead to far more dangerous territories of the heart?

Sunday Times bestselling author, Kathleen Tessaro returns with a stunning new novel that will be a big hit with fans of her debut success EleganceIt's 1987 and Evie is leaving home for the first time, headed for London to study acting. Along with her fellow students and roommates, Imogene (a born again Laura Ashley poster child and frustrated virgin) and Robbie (native New Yorker, budding bohemian, and very much not a virgin), Evie's determined to make her mark both on stage and off.But then life and love, in the shape of struggling rock musician Jake Albery, intervene. And everything changes.Fourteen years later and Evie's stuck. She's now a single mother teaching drama classes, her dreams long since abandoned. Robbie's dead, killed in car accident and Imo's lost touch.Then a friendship from the past comes to haunt Evie. Literally. And suddenly everything is about to change again.