The Debutante

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?

Reviews

Praise for The Debutante:

'It's an elegant and glamorous plot …which means lots of mouth-watering descriptions of decaying stately homes by the sea' Daily Mail

‘The latest from the author of bestseller Elegance. New Yorker Cate immerses herself in the mystery of the Mitford-esque 1920’s London debutante’ Red

‘A shoebox filled with momentos sets artist Cate on a hunt for the truth behind the disappearance of a dazzling 1920’s ‘it’ girl in Kathleen Tessaro’s The Debutante’ Good Housekeeping

‘Tessaro gets her story-weaving wand out with a gloriously rich story of past and present love’ InStyle

‘Reading The Debutante was the most delicious treat. Engrossing, romantic, wise and witty – the perfect read. I could not put it down’ Gillian Greenwood, author of Satisfaction and The Ghost Lover

Praise for Kathleen Tessaro:

‘Ultra-smart and classily edgy, this is the glitz novel brought up to date’ Sunday Times

‘This is a book all women will identify with’ Glamour

About the author

Born in Pittsburgh, Kathleen Tessaro studied drama before emigrating to London. After ten years working as an actress in films, television, and theatre, she left the profession and spent several years working for the English National Opera, while training in the evenings as a drama teacher and voice coach. During this time, she began to write. Working on short stories during her lunch hour, she soon became a regular member of a writers workshop.