Was the greatest love story of all time a lie?
Romeo Montague is handsome and charming and the first time he sees young Rosaline Capulet, who has secretly snuck into his family's masquerade summer ball, he falls instantly in love.
At first Rosaline is unsure of Romeo's attentions but with her father determined that she join the nunnery, Romeo offers her the chance of a different life. Gradually he convinces her that only true love could make him feel this way, that he is enraptured by her beauty. Indeed, he cannot live without her!
And so begins the story of Romeo and Rosaline. These star-crossed lovers must keep everything hidden from Rosaline's family, at least until they are wed. But when a destitute young girl appears, claiming to be carrying Romeo's child, Rosaline starts to doubt all that she has been told. And as whispers of more girls reach her ears, what once felt like a courtship begins to feel more like a pursuit.
As Rosaline recognises Romeo for the villain he truly is, his gaze turns suddenly towards Rosaline's adored and beautiful cousin, thirteen-year old Juliet.
Can Rosaline save Juliet, who falls under Romeo's spell just as quickly as she did? Or can this story only ever end one way?
The subversive, powerful untelling of Shakespeare's best know tale. A fierce, forgotten voice: this is Rosaline's story.
A captivating novel that evokes the author's New York Times bestseller The House at Tyneford
It's a terrible thing to covet your brother's girl.
New Year's Eve, 1946. Candles flicker, and a gramophone scratches out a tune as guests dance and sip champagne. For one night only, Hartgrove Hall relives better days. Harry Fox-Talbot and his brothers have returned from the war determined to save their once grand home from ruin. But the arrival of beautiful wartime singer Edie Rose tangles the threads of love and duty and leads to a devastating betrayal.
Fifty years later, now a celebrated composer, Fox reels from the death of his adored wife, Edie. But his connection with his four-year-old grandson-a piano prodigy-propels him back into life, and he must ultimately confront his past.
The Song of Hartgrove Hall is an enthralling novel about love and treachery, joy after grief, and a man forced to ask: Is it ever too late to seek forgiveness?
"A delightful, moving, utterly believable family saga."-Times (London)
The success of The House at Tyneford made it clear that readers adore Natasha Solomons. In The Gallery of Vanished Husbands, Solomons once again returns to an earlier era, this time to tell the story of one woman’s incredible life through the many portraits she inspired.
London, 1958. It’s the eve of the sexual revolution, but in Juliet Montague’s conservative Jewish community where only men can divorce women, she finds herself a living widow, invisible. Ever since her husband disappeared seven years ago, Juliet has been a hardworking single mother of two and unnaturally practical. But on her thirtieth birthday, that’s all about to change. A wealthy young artist asks to paint her portrait, and Juliet, moved by the powerful desire to be seen, enters into the burgeoning art world of 1960s London, which will bring her fame, fortune, and a lifelong love affair.
“Reads like a quiet domestic mystery and a romantic drama rolled into one…Absorbing and exciting.”—RT Book Reviews
An irresistible World War II story of a forbidden upstairs-downstairs romance in a great English country house.
It's the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When Kit, the son of Tyneford's master, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford-and Elise-forever.
A page-turning tale of family, love, loss, and the power of the human spirit set against the perennially popular backdrop of World War II England, Natasha Solomons' The House at Tyneford is upmarket romantic fiction at its best.
"Natasha Solomons has written a lovely, atmospheric novel full of charming characters and good, old-fashioned storytelling."-Kristin Hannah, New York Times bestselling author
At the start of World War II, Jack and Sadie Rosenblum flee Berlin for London with their baby daughter, Elizabeth. Upon arrival, Jack receives a pamphlet from the German Jewish Aid Committee on how to act like a proper Englishman. He follows it to the letter, Saville Row suits, the BBC, trips to Covent Garden, a Jaguar, and it works like a charm. The Rosenblums settle into a prosperous new life.
Just one item on the list eludes him: "An Englishman must be a member of a golf course." No golf course in England at the time will admit a Jew. But the list is now the guiding document in Jack's life, and he must check off the final item. So he decides to build his own golf club in the Dorset countryside. For the second time, Sadie leaves a home she loves. And despite ancient customs, British snobbery, mythical beasts, and a shrinking bank account, they triumph once again.
