The Winter Guest

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In a grand villa on the shores of Lake Geneva, Dulcie’s grandmother nears the end of her glamourous and eventful life. The days pass quietly to the reassuring tick of the Swiss clock – until a visitor comes to their door…

1961
In the streets of Paris, Lise Erlach is in love. Twenty-two years old, the beautiful young Ambassador’s wife enjoys the very best the city has to offer: glittering receptions, a magnificent residence and an address book filled with the numbers of the Parisian elite. She is wanted at every party…and by one man above all. Their affair dazzles them both but in a distant sea, a crisis is brewing that will change their paths forever.

Present day
As snow falls upon the Alps, Dulcie sits by her grandmother’s bed, undisturbed until the visitor arrives. He says he must tell her grandmother something urgently - something that will make Dulcie realise the beloved old woman before her is a complete stranger... With deep family secrets unlocked, can she get the answers she needs before time runs out?

'Swan is sublime!' Veronica Henry, Sunday Times bestseller

© Karen Swan 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026