The English Wife - Tapa dura

"A dark and scintillating tale." -Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale "A gorgeous gem of a novel." -Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of The Night the Lights Went Out "The pages fly fast and furious in this thoroughly engaging, suspenseful yarn." --Booklist "Willig has a knack for creating sympathetic characters and fully fleshed settings, adding some juicy plot twists to this atmospheric period piece." -- Kirkus Reviews "A dark, romantic mystery full of twists and turns." -- Library Journal "Lauren Willig is skilled in historical fiction and draws us deeply into the world of Gilded Age New York...The book is also perfectly paced, as we're gradually fed clues and revelations that keep us guessing until the very end." -- New York Daily News "Lauren Willig's historical novels are so immersive, so note-perfect in their mastery of setting and voice, that I'm tempted to wonder if she has a time machine at her disposal. The English Wife, with its deliciously evocative portrait of the splendours, sorrows and intrigues of Gilded Age high society, is her best book yet." -- Jennifer Robson, USA Today and #1 Toronto Globe & Mail bestselling author of Goodnight from London. "Full of intrigue and suspense, Willig weaves an intricate tapestry of romance and betrayal. Rich in period detail and a plot that keeps you guessing, The English Wife, is a wonderful read."-- Alyson Richman, Internationally bestselling author of The Velvet Hours and The Lost Wife "Lauren Willig absolutely delivers in this deliciously-paced, intriguing tale that is part mystery, part love story, and part family drama of the most emotionally-riveting kind. Brimming with evocative historical details and hauntingly good." -- Susan Meissner, Award-winning author of A Bridge Across the Ocean "The English Wife is an atmospheric, instantly absorbing page-turner. Lauren Willig delivers a richly detailed, expertly plotted novel that will instantly transport you back in time. This novel has it all--an intriguing mystery, a love affair for the ages and secrets worth dying for." --Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and Not A Sound "An elegant page turner that kept me guessing. A masterful story that transported me back in time. A great, great Gothic." -M.J. Rose, New York Times bestselling author of The Library of Light and Shadow "Full of Gilded Age glamour and Gothic suspense, The English Wife will haunt readers long after the story ends. Willig draws us in immediately - not just with an opulent setting and sensational gossip - but with a crime so visually stunning, I was left gasping for air by the end of chapter one. From London to old New York, readers will be mesmerized. Willig's writing is so smart and her pacing so masterful that readers will be guessing until the very last page. The English Wife combines the all insight of Edith Wharton with the tension and intrigue of Daphne du Maurier. It is Willig at her very best and most compelling." -Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Two-Family House "The English Wife brings to life old world New York City and London with all the splendor of two of my favorite novels, The Age of Innocence and The Crimson Petal and the White. Mystery, murder, mistaken identity, romance--Lauren Willig weaves each strand into a page-turning tapestry." -Sally Koslow, author of The Widow Waltz and Another Side of Paradise

Anna belle and Bayard Van Duyvil live a charmed life: he's the scion of an old Knickerbocker family, she grew up in a Tudor house in England, they had a fairytale romance in London, they have three year old twins on whom they dote, and he's recreated her family home on the banks of the Hudson and named it Illyria. Yes, there are rumours that she's having an affair with the architect, but rumours are rumours and people will gossip. But then Bayard is found dead with a knife in his chest on the night of their Twelfth Night Ball, Annabelle goes missing, presumed drowned, and the papers go mad. Bay's sister, Janie, forms an unlikely alliance with a reporter to try to uncover the truth, convinced that Bay would never have killed his wife, that it must be a third party, but the more she learns about her brother and his wife, the more everything she thought she knew about them starts to unravel. Who were her brother and his wife, really? And why did her brother die with the name George on his lips?