The Ravenscar Dynasty
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The Ravenscar Dynasty, introducing the house of DeRavenel, launches Barbara Taylor Bradford’s epic new series spanning a century.
Ravenscar: A house, a legacy and a dynasty.
On a bitterly cold day in 1904, the DeRavenel family's future changes for ever. When Cecily DeRavenel tells her 18-year-old son Edward of the death of his father, brother and cousins in a fire, a part of him dies as well.
Edward is comforted by his cousin Neville Watkins, who is suspicious of the deaths. The two men vow to seek the truth, avenge the deaths and take control of the business empire usurped from Edward's great uncle sixty years before. And so begins an epic saga about an astonishing family, set in extraordinary times.
Handsome, charismatic and a notorious womaniser, Edward battles his cousin, Henry Grant, for control of the family empire. Elizabeth Wyland, a young widow and a great beauty, stands by his side, and they are secretly married. She is power hungry, and ambitious. But Edward also has a mistress: Jane Shaw, a constant in his life. And as Elizabeth's jealousy damages their marriage, Edward's only solace is his work and Jane.
Edward's position as the glamorous head of the DeRavenels is fatally rocked when betrayal comes from within. Soon, catastrophe threatens to destroy the family and the business…Power and money, passion and adultery, ambition and treachery – all illuminate a dramatic saga set against the backdrop of the Edwardian Era and the Belle Epoque, just before the First World War.
Reviews
Praise for Barbara Taylor Bradford:
'Queen of the genre.' Sunday Times
‘Few novelists are as consummate as Barbara Taylor Bradford at keeping the reader turning the page. She is one of the world’s best at spinning yarns.’ Guardian
‘A classic saga of loyalty, secrets, passion and intrigue…if you’ve been suffering withdrawal symptoms from Downton, this is for you’ Daily Mail
‘As romantic and thrilling as the rest’ Independent on Sunday
‘Another great yarn from the ultimate storyteller’ The Sun
‘The storyteller of substance.’ The Times
About the author
Barbara Taylor Bradford was born and raised in England. She started her writing career on the Yorkshire Evening Post and later worked as a journalist in London. Her first novel, A Woman of Substance, became an enduring bestseller and was followed by many more, including the bestselling Cavendon series. Barbara’s books have sold more than eighty-one million copies worldwide in more than ninety countries and forty languages. In October of 2007, Barbara was appointed an OBE by the Queen for her services to literature.
To find out more and join the huge community of her fans, find Barbara on Facebook @BarbaraTaylorBradford, follow her on Twitter @BTBNovelist and sign up to her newsletter at www.barbarataylorbradford.co.uk.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The doyenne of popular women's fiction (Just Rewards) returns with the first installment of a projected trilogy centering on internecine power struggles within the early 20th century incarnation of the centuries-old Deravenel clan and their London-based family business. A suspicious hotel fire causes the death of patriarch Richard Deravenel along with that of one of his sons, his brother-in-law and his young nephew, forcing tall, handsome, bright, seductive, 17-year old Edward Deravenel out of Oxford into the world of commerce. He and cousin Neville Watkins (a successful businessman in his own right) plot to avenge their fathers' and brothers' deaths and seize the company, currently under the stewardship of a delusional absentee executive whose ambitious (and French) wife is behind the skullduggery. Edward's longtime friend, Will Hasling, also joins the fray, and Neville has his own motivations. Along the way, there are libidinous liaisons, wicked plots, personal catastrophes, a secret "love child" and lessons aplenty about the consequences of ruthless ambition. Expect strong, two-dimensional characters; tasteful and adroit sex; repetitive exchanges; a plot rich with period detail and reasonably backed-up friction.