The Elopement

Description

Tracy Rees's latest novel The Elopement is an elaborately imagined historical novel full of delight and temptation, spanning the luxury and poverty of late Victorian England. A wealthy heiress . . . 1897. Rowena Blythe is wealthy, entitled and beautiful. As her twenty-fourth birthday approaches, she's expected to marry - and to marry well. An unsuitable match . . . Her parents commission a portrait of Rowena to help cement her reputation as a great society beauty. However, Bartek, the artist's young assistant, is unlike any man Rowena has met before - wild, romantic and Bohemian. While society at large awaits the announcement of Rowena's engagement, it is Bartek who captures Rowena's heart along with her likeness. A scandal in society . . . Rowena knows her parents would never approve of Bartek, who in their eyes is nothing but a penniless foreigner. As her feelings grow, she has no-one to turn to. Dare she risk everything for love? Praise for Tracy Rees: 'a natural storyteller . . .' - Rachel Hore 'Tracy has a rare gift for creating characters you are rooting for from the first page' - Gill Paul 'has such a talent for writing engaging characters who stay with you' - Hazel Gaynor 'Tracy Rees is at the height of her game' - Rebecca Griffiths

Tracy Rees, author of Amy Snow, was the first winner of the Richard and Judy 'Search for a Bestseller' competition. She has also won the Love Stories Best Historical Read award and been shortlisted for the RNA Epic Romantic Novel of the Year. A Cambridge graduate, Tracy had a successful career in non-fiction publishing before retraining for a second career practising and teaching humanistic counselling. She has also been a waitress, bartender, shop assistant, estate agent, classroom assistant and workshop leader. Tracy divides her time between the Gower Peninsula of South Wales and London. The Elopement is Tracy's latest mesmerizing historical romance.

The Elopement is a beautiful novel about taking wrong turnings on the path to love and happiness. The characters step from the pages in all their wilfulness and folly and make us care desperately what happens to them. Tracy Rees is a brilliant, immersive storyteller who truly understands the human heart. I adore all her novels, but this is my favourite so far. -- Gill Paul, Author of The Manhattan Girls I've long been a huge fan of Tracy's sumptuous, immersive storytelling . . . The Elopement is another absolute beauty. -- Jenny Ashcroft, author of Beneath a Burning Sky Absolutely loved this book about three kick ass women in Victorian London learning how to be true to themselves. Full of joy and wisdom - it left a big smile on my face. -- Caroline Bishop, author of The Lost Chapter Tracy's writing is so fresh, original and authentic -- Rosanna Ley I've long been a huge fan of Tracy's sumptuous, immersive storytelling, and with The Elopement she's swept me away yet again. She has such a talent for creating the most wonderful characters - within pages, I feel I know them, and that they've become friends - and is a master at spinning gripping, lose-yourself, forget about everything and everyone else, tales. Full of warmth and love, The Elopement is another absolute beauty. -- Jenny Ashcroft on The Elopement I absolutely loved this story . . . captivating . . . Tracy writes with such skill -- Ronali Collings, author of Love & Other Dramas Tracy is a very skilled storyteller who weaves the vivid strands of her story together against a rich historical background. -- Jane Johnson Tracy Rees writes from the heart -- Kathryn Hughes In this engrossing novel Tracy Rees takes the reader directly into the drama and action, her writing bringing every scene to sparkling vivid life. The rich use of language meant I was fully immersed in the Victorian world of the main women protagonists and didn't want to leave. Written with empathy and revealing differing sides to even more minor characters, the roles and attitudes to women at the end of the Victorian period and the emerging 'women's movement were riveting. Totally unputdownable. -- Dinah Jefferies on The Rose Garden A rich, compelling and intricate tapestry of women's lives . . . their wants, needs and dreams through the characters diverse lives. I couldn't put it down. -- Liz Fenwick on The Rose Garden
A rich historical drama that is both a subtle study of the treatment of women and an entertaining escape. Pure joy. -- Jo Spain on The Rose Garden