The Angel Tree

Description

Thirty years have passed since Greta Marchmont left the mansion in which she had once found a home. Now she returns to Marchmont Hall in the snowy mountains of Wales - but she has no memory of her past because, since a tragic accident, she suffers from amnesia. But a walk through the wintry landscape leads to a disturbing discovery: she comes across a grave in the forest, and the weathered inscription on the cross tells her that a little boy is buried here - her own son. Greta begins to make the search for the woman she once was. However, a truth comes out that is so shocking that Greta must summon the greatest courage of her life . . . *First published as Not Quite an Angel under the name Lucinda Edmonds, now extensively reworked*

Lucinda Riley was born in 1965 in Ireland, and after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book aged twenty-four. Her books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and continue to strike an emotional chord with all cultures around the world. The Seven Sisters series specifically has become a global phenomenon, creating its own genre, and there are plans to create a seven-season TV series. Her books have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Italian Bancarella prize, The Lovely Books award in Germany, and the Romantic Novel of the Year award. In 2020 she received the Dutch Platinum award for sales over 300,000 copies for a single novel in one year - an award last won by J K Rowling for Harry Potter. In collaboration with her son Harry Whittaker, she also devised a series of books for children called 'The Guardian Angels' series, based on stories told to her children whenever they were facing a challenging situation. Harry then wrote the books, and they are now being published internationally. Though she brought up her four children mostly in Norfolk in England, in 2015 she fulfilled her dream of buying a remote farmhouse in West Cork, Ireland, which she always felt was her spiritual home, and indeed this was where her last five books were written. Lucinda was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and died on June 11th 2021, surrounded by her family.

The Angel Tree packs a real psychological punch, exploring the fall-out from troubled childhoods and how events in the past impact on not just our perception of the world but on how we handle our relationships with other people. Riley takes us into the heart of a cross-generational struggle, filling the pages with fascinating characters and dynamic locations, and springing surprises at every juncture. Sweeping, absorbing, beautifully written and utterly compelling, this is a saga to sit back and savour on long winter nights * Lancashire Evening Post *