Elegance

Kathleen Tessaro

Harper Collins Canada

An enchanting novel brimming with poignancy, humour, enchantment and insight, this is a stunning debut. Imagine an Audrey Hepburn film in the present day...It was a slim, grey volume entitled Elegance. It was buried between a fat, obviously untouched volume on the history of the French monarchy and a dog-eared paperback edition of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love. Deep in the hushed dimness of a second-hand bookshop, Louise Canova discovers a faded hardback. It is an A-Z of how to be elegant, written many years before by a Frenchwoman, Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. As she starts reading, the book's pages whisper something elusive: a way to face up to her unhappy marriage and recapture her self-esteem. 'You can always tell the character of a woman by the care and attention she lavishes on the details of her dress.' From Accessories to Zippers, there is nothing that Madame Dariaux cannot rule upon. Her writing stirs up memories of mothers and daughters, friendships and lovers, and seems to Louise to contain a magic: a wisdom that remains timeless. But changing her wardrobe is not enough. Can Louise pluck up the courage to take the real life lessons captured in the yellowing pages, and act upon them? And, finally, to leave behind Madame Dariaux and start to trust her own wisdom? An enchanting, bittersweet novel that will touch every woman who has ever longed for a fairy godmother.

HARPER/COLLINS

The Debutante

Harpercollins

Debutante

The Perfume Collector

[Read by Heather Wilds] The author of 'Elegance' and 'The Debutante' returns with stunning new novel about secrets, desire, memory, and the power of scent. -- Raised in the quiet world of Oxford academia, newlywed Grace Monroe doesn't fit anyone's expectations of a successful 1950s London socialite, least of all her own. But her struggles to comply with the duties and demands of her new role are overshadowed by unexpected twists. First, she learns that she is the recipient of a large inheritance from a complete stranger in Paris, Madame Eva dOrsey. Then she discovers her husband may not be the man she thought he was. Shaken, Grace flees to Paris, in search of the identity of her mysterious benefactor, as well as perspective on her unraveling life. Moving across continents and decades, The Perfume Collector is a timeless story of passion, heartbreak, and hope.

The Perfume Collector: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

HarperCollins and Blackstone Audio

In Depression-era Boston, a city divided by privilege and poverty, two unlikely friends are bound by a dangerous secret in this mesmerizing work of historical fiction from the New York Times bestselling author of The Perfume Collector. Boston, 1933. Maeve Fanning is a first generation Irish immigrant born and raised among the poor, industrious Italian families of Boston's North End by her widowed mother. Clever, capable, and as head strong as her trademark red hair suggests, she's determined to better herself despite the overwhelming hardships of the Great Depression. However, Maeve also has a dangerous fondness for strange men and bootleg gin - a rebellious hunger for experience that soon finds her spiraling downward, leading a double life. When the strain proves too much, Maeve becomes an unwilling patient in a remote psychiatric hospital, where she strikes up a friendship with an enigmatic young woman who, like Maeve, is unable or unwilling to control her un-lady-like desire for freedom. Once out, Maeve faces starting over again. Armed with a bottle of bleach and a few white lies, she finally lands a job at an eccentric antiques shop catering to Boston's wealthiest and most peculiar collectors. Run by a retired anthropology professor and an elusive English archaeologist, the Pandora is a haven of the obscure and incredible, providing rare artifacts as well as unique access into the world of America's social elite. While delivering a purchase to the wealthy Van der Laar family, Maeve is introduced to beautiful socialite Diana Van der Laar - only to discover she's the same young woman from the hospital. Reunited with the charming but increasingly unstable Diana and pursued by her attractive brother James, Maeve becomes more and more entwined with the Van der Laar family - a connection that pulls her deep into a world of social and political ambition, deceit, and ultimately betrayal. Bewitched by their wealth and desperate to leave her past behind, Maeve is forced to unearth her true values and discover just how far she's willing to go to reinvent herself. A rich, universal story of ambition, transformation, desire, and betrayal, Rare Objects is acclaimed writer Kathleen Tessaro's finest work to date.

Rare Objects: A Novel

Romance

HarperCollins Publishers and Blackstone Audio

Boston, 1933. Maeve Fanning is a first-generation Irish immigrant born and raised among the poor, industrious Italian families of Boston's North End by her widowed mother. Clever and capable, she's determined to better herself despite the overwhelming hardships of the Great Depression. Maeve becomes entwined with the wealthy Van der Laar family -- a connection that pulls her deep into a world of social and political ambition, deceit, and ultimately betrayal. Bewitched by their wealth and desperate to leave her past behind, Maeve is forced to unearth her true values and discover just how far she's willing to go to reinvent herself.

HarperCollins Publishing and Blackstone Audio

Louise Canova should be happy and in love. But her actor husband seems to be growing distant and she doesn't know why. Is it her fault? The uncertainty and insecurity she thought she'd left behind in adolescence now come back to haunt her. But when she discovers a faded volume titled Elegance in a secondhand bookshop, she believes she's found the answers. Written by the formidable French fashion expert Madame Dariaux, Elegance is an encyclopedia of style, that promises to transform plain women into creatures of grace and poise at all times. And from Accessories to Zippers, there's nothing Madame can't advise upon -- including inattentive husbands, false friends, and the absolute importance of good-quality seductive lingerie.Louise vows to follow Madame's advice, but the lessons she learns have a surprising effect and an outcome she never expected. Within its pages lie clues to her past. And as she begins to unravel them, she discovers that everything, even elegance, has its price. Starting with A and finishing with Elegance is a unique alphabetical journey of timeless fashion, true friendship, and the rare, unexpected gift of love.

Contemporary

Harper-collins Publishers

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Books by Kathleen Tessaro