Separated in every way but distance, Sebastian resides in a guest cottage across the lawn from Ella's ramshackle farmhouse.
When Ella married the handsome, celebrated artist Sebastian Montclair at just nineteen she was madly in love. Now, those blissful years of marriage have turned into the very definition of an unconventional set-up.
With an ex-husband living under her nose and a home crowded by hostile teenaged children, gender-confused chickens - not to mention her hyper critical mother whose own marriage is coming undone - Ella finds comfort in the company of the very charming gardener, Ludo.
Then out of the blue Sebastian decides to move on, catching Ella horribly unaware. How much longer can she hide from what really destroyed her marriage . . . and the secret she continues to keep?
'I raced through it, completely gripped from start to finish' - Daily Mail
Family secrets revealed, unannounced house guests, a husband's wandering eye, and an old love affair to boot... so much for Flora's luxurious escape to the chateau in the South of France.
When Flora, James and their two teenage daughters are offered the holiday of a lifetime in a chateau in the south of France in return for one simple good deed, they jump at the chance. They exchange the confines of London, the weight of the mortgage, and anxieties over their future for a blissful family vacation.
But Flora didn't anticipate a mysterious guest and a whole heap of family baggage to come along as well.
With James developing a schoolboy crush on a famous singer and Flora distracted by ghosts from her past, their dream holiday suddenly takes some very unexpected turns.
Family secrets revealed, unannounced house guests, a husband's wandering eye, and an old love affair to boot... so much for Flora's luxurious escape to the chateau in the South of France.When Flora, James and their two teenage daughters are offered the holiday of a lifetime in a chateau in the south of France in return for one simple good deed, they jump at the chance. They exchange the confines of London, the weight of the mortgage, and anxieties over their future for a blissful family vacation.
But Flora didn't anticipate a mysterious guest and a whole heap of family baggage to come along as well.
With James developing a schoolboy crush on a famous singer and Flora distracted by ghosts from her past, their dream holiday suddenly takes some very unexpected turns.
Evie Hamilton has a secret . . . one she doesn't even know about. Yet . . .
Evie's an Oxfordshire wife and mum who's biggest worry in life is whether or not she can fit in a manicure on her way to fetch her daughter from clarinet lessons. But she's blissfully unaware that her charmed and happy life is about to be turned upside-down.
For one sunny morning a letter lands on Evie's immaculate doormat. It's a bombshell, knocking her carefully arranged and managed world completely askew and it threatens to sabotage all she holds dear.
What will be left and what will change forever? Is Evie strong enough to fight for what she loves? Can her entire world really be as fragile as her best china?
'Classy, wonderfully gossipy and breathless'(Red)
'We defy you not to get caught up in Alliott's life-changing tale' (Heat)
Annie O'Harran is getting married...all over again.
A divorced single mum, Annie is about to tie the knot with David. But there's a long summer to get through first. A summer where's she's retreating to a lonely house in Cornwall, where's she's going to finish her book, spend time with her teenage daughter, Flora, and make any last-minute wedding plans.
Annie should be so lucky.
Almost as soon as Annie arrives, her competitive sister and her wild brood fetch up. Annie's louche ex-husband and his latest squeeze are holidaying nearby and insist on dropping in. Plus there's the surprise American houseguest who can't help sharing his heartbreak.
Suddenly Annie's big day seems a long, long way off - and if she's not careful, it might never happen at all....
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of A Cornish Summer, written by Catherine Alliott and read by Gemma Whelan.
Flora's been in love with her husband for twenty years.
The trouble is, he's been married to someone else for the past fifteen.
Now she's been invited to spend the summer in the shady lanes and sandy coves of Cornwall. It should be blissful.
There's just one small snag: she'll be staying with her former mother-in-law, Belinda.
And Flora discovers she's not the only one invited when her ex-husband shows up out of the blue, complete with his new wife. So now there are two small snags.
Can Flora spend the summer playing happy families with the woman who stole her husband's heart, and the mother-in-law who might have had a hand in it?
Or will stumbling on the family secret change her mind about them all?
'Oh how I enjoyed this! No one writes about Cornwall like Catherine. Yet another fabulous book, packed with glamour, delicious characters and myriad family complications!' Jill Mansell
’You've gone all fat and complacent because you've got your man, haven't you?'
Polly Penhalligan is outraged at the suggestion that since getting married to Nick and settling into their beautiful manor farmhouse in Cornwall she has let herself go. But watching a lot of telly and gorging on biscuits, not getting dressed until lunchtime and waiting for pregnancy to strike are not the signs of someone living an active and fulfilled life. So Polly does something rash.
She allows her home to be used as a location for a TV advert. Having a glamorous film crew around will certainly put a bomb under the idyllic, rural life. Only perhaps she should have consulted Nick first.
Because before the cameras have even started to roll - and complete chaos descends on the farm - Polly's marriage has been turned upside down. This time she really has gone too far . . .
'Alliott's joie de vivre is irresistible' Daily Mail
Molly has moved from London to Herefordshire chasing 'The Good Life.' She is living the country dream, apart from it isn't really her dream. It is her husband David's. And David is, well, rather dead now. When she's left an inheritance of a London townhouse, Molly dares to consider chucking it all in. But there's a problem. A tall, handsome problem. There is already a man living in Molly's new house. And when a face appears from her past, Molly is more confused than ever.
When Poppy Shilling's bike-besotted, Lycra-clad husband is killed in a accident, she can't help feeling a guilty relief. At long last she's released from a controlling, loveless marriage. Poppy's determined to start over. Everyone from Luke the sexy church organist to Bob the resident oddball, is taking note. Yet the one man Poppy can't take her eyes off seems tantalizingly out of reach - why won't he let go of his glamorous ex-wife?
When Flora, James and their two teenage daughters are offered the holiday of a lifetime in a chateau in the South of France, in return for one simple good deed, they jump at the chance. But Flora didn't anticipate a mysterious guest and a whole heap of family baggage coming along too... Their dream holiday suddenly takes some very unexpected turns.
Separated in every way but distance, Sebastian resides in an outhouse across the lawn from his ex-wife Ella's ramshackle farmhouse. With a home crowded by hostile teenaged children and gender-confused chickens, Ella finds comfort in the company of the very charming gardener, Ludo. Then Sebastian decides to move on, catching Ella horribly unawares. How much longer can she hide from what really destroyed her marriage... and the secret she continues to keep?
