[PDF] The Velvet Hours eBook

Author : Alyson Richman
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 50,98 MB
Release : 2016-09-06
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 110161580X

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From the international bestselling author of The Lost Wife and The Garden of Letters, comes a story—inspired by true events—of two women pursuing freedom and independence in Paris during WWII. As Paris teeters on the edge of the German occupation, a young French woman closes the door to her late grandmother’s treasure-filled apartment, unsure if she’ll ever return. An elusive courtesan, Marthe de Florian cultivated a life of art and beauty, casting out all recollections of her impoverished childhood in the dark alleys of Montmartre. With Europe on the brink of war, she shares her story with her granddaughter Solange Beaugiron, using her prized possessions to reveal her innermost secrets. Most striking of all are a beautiful string of pearls and a magnificent portrait of Marthe painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. As Marthe’s tale unfolds, like velvet itself, stitched with its own shadow and light, it helps to guide Solange on her own path. Inspired by the true account of an abandoned Parisian apartment, Alyson Richman brings to life Solange, the young woman forced to leave her fabled grandmother’s legacy behind to save all that she loved.

Author : Sarah Waters
Publisher : Virago
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 39,28 MB
Release : 2011-02-03
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0748129324

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From the oyster huts of Whitstable to the music halls of Victorian London, Tipping the Velvet is the glorious first novel from this much-loved author 'Piercing the shadows of the naked stage was a single shaft of rosy limelight, and in the centre of this was a girl: the most marvellous girl - I knew it at once! - that I had ever seen.' A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'. 'Erotic and absorbing... Written with startling power' New York Times Book Review 'An unstoppable read, a sexy and picaresque romp through the lesbian and queer demi-monde of the roaries Nineties' Independent on Sunday 'Waters is an extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit' Observer

Author : Alyson Richman
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 24,66 MB
Release : 2011-09-06
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1101552549

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A rapturous novel of star-crossed love in a time of war—from the international bestselling author of The Secret of Clouds. During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, and Josef, who is studying medicine, fall in love. With the promise of a better future, they marry—only to have their dreams shattered by the imminent Nazi invasion. Like so many others, they are torn apart by the currents of war. Now a successful obstetrician in America, Josef has never forgotten the wife he believes died in the war. But in the Nazi ghetto of Terezín, Lenka survived, relying on her skills as an artist and the memories of a husband she would never see again. Then, decades later and thousands of miles away, an unexpected encounter in New York leads to an inescapable glance of recognition, and the realization that providence has given Lenka and Josef one more chance. From the glamorous ease of life in Prague before the occupation to the horrors of Nazi Europe, The Lost Wife explores the power of first love, the resilience of the human spirit, and our capacity to remember.

Author : Alyson Richman
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 47,30 MB
Release : 2006-10-03
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1101546247

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A historical romance novel of love, artistry, and Vincent Van Gogh’s muse in 19th century France Summer, 1890. Van Gogh arrives at Auvers-sur-Oise, a bucolic French village that lures city artists to the country. It is here that twenty-year-old Maurguerite Gachet has grown up, attending to her father and brother ever since her mother’s death. And it is here that young Vincent Van Gogh will spend his last summer, under the care of Doctor Gachet—homeopathic doctor, dilettante painter, and collector. In these last days of his life, Van Gogh will create over 70 paintings, two of them portraits of Marguerite Gachet. But little does he know that, while capturing Marguerite and her garden on canvas, he will also capture her heart. Both a love story and historical novel, The Last Van Gogh recreates the final months of Vincent’s life—and the tragic relationship between a young girl brimming with hope and an artist teetering on despair.

Author : Michael Leigh
Publisher : SCB Distributors
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 20,12 MB
Release : 2013-10-12
Category : History
ISBN : 1909923419

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Swingers and swappers, strippers and streetwalkers, sadists, masochists, and sexual mavericks of every persuasion; all are documented in The Velvet Underground, a legendary exposé of the diseased underbelly of ’60s American society. The book that lent its name to the seminal New York rock’n’roll group, whose songs were to mirror its themes of depravity and social malaise. Welcome to the sexual twilight zone...

Author : Jude Deveraux
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 346 pages
File Size : 25,74 MB
Release : 1991-01-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 074345927X

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One of Forbes’s 30 Best Romance Novels of All Time! All of England rejoiced on her wedding day. But Judith vowed that her husband would get only what he took from her... At the flower-bedecked altar, the first touch of their hands ignited an all-consuming passion. Gavin Montgomery looked deep into her golden eyes and burned with desire for her...but his heart had been pledged to another. Humiliated and alone in a strange castle, Judith resolved to hate this husband who took her body, but rejected her love...never admitting her fear of losing him. But destiny held another fate for Judith...a fate that would keep at last...The Velvet Promise.

Author : Alyson Richman
Publisher :
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 28,67 MB
Release : 2014
Category : Fascism
ISBN : 9781628441161

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"Portofino, Italy, 1943. A young woman steps off a boat in a scenic coastal village. Although she knows how to disappear in a crowd, Elodie is too terrified to slip by the German officers while carrying her poorly forged identity papers. She is frozen until a man she's never met before claims to know her. In desperate need of shelter, Elodie follows him back to his home on the cliffs of Portofino. Only months before, Elodie Bertolotti was a cello prodigy in Verona, unconcerned with world events. But when Mussolini's Fascist regime strikes her family, Elodie is drawn into the burgeoning resistance movement by Luca, a young and impassioned bookseller. As the occupation looms, she discovers that her unique musical talents, and her courage, have the power to save lives. In Portofino, young doctor Angelo Rosselli gives the frightened and exhausted girl sanctuary. He is a man with painful secrets of his own, haunted by guilt and remorse. But Elodie's arrival has the power to awaken a sense of hope and joy that Angelo thought was lost to him forever. Written in dazzling prose and set against the rich backdrop of World War II Italy, Garden of Letters captures the hope, suspense, and romance of an uncertain era, in an epic intertwining story of first love, great tragedy, and spectacular bravery."--

Author : Alyson Richman
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 45,44 MB
Release : 2012-10-02
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1101611707

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In this sweeping epic, true love transcends the brutality of war. Octavio Ribeiro loves truth, beauty, literature, and above all else, his wife Salomé. As a student in Chile, he courted her with the words of great poets, and she fell in love with his fierce intelligence and uncompromising passion. Then a sudden coup brings a brutal military dictatorship into power, and puts anyone who resists in grave danger. Salomé begs Octavio to put his family’s safety first, rather than speak against the new regime. When he refuses, it’s Salomé who pays the price. Belatedly awake to the reality of their danger, Octavio finds political asylum for the family in Sweden. But for Salomé, the path back to love is fraught with painful secrets, and the knowledge that they can never go home again. Previously published as Swedish Tango

Author : Temple West
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 417 pages
File Size : 17,86 MB
Release : 2015-05-12
Category : Young Adult Fiction
ISBN : 1250063612

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Equal parts steamy and funny, with a few genuinely creepy moments, this paranormal romance has everything -- compelling characters, plenty of witty banter, and a romance that just might be to die for. After losing both her parents before age 17, aspiring designer Caitlin Holte feels like her whole world has been turned upside down, and that was before she accidentally attracted the attention of a demon. Then, she learns that her hot, bad-boy neighbor, Adrian -- who might have just saved her life -- is actually a half-demon vampire. Suddenly, Caitlin is stuck with a vampire bodyguard who feels that the best way to protect her is to become her pretend boyfriend. Trouble is, Caitlin is starting to fall in love for real, while Adrian can never love a human. Caitlin trusts Adrian to keep her safe from his demon father, but will he be able to protect her heart? Temple West’s debut novel Velvet is a sexy, delightful romance chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads. Praise for Velvet: “This romantic Twilight readalike shines with credible dialogue and fully developed characters.” —School Library Journal "Velvet is fun and very entertaining with snappy dialogue, awesome characters and some solid teen angst.” —The Windy Pages

Author : Nelson D. Schwartz
Publisher : Anchor
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 16,72 MB
Release : 2020-03-03
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0385543093

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From New York Times business reporter Nelson D. Schwartz comes a gripping investigation of how a virtual velvet rope divides Americans in every arena of life, creating a friction-free existence for those with money on one side and a Darwinian struggle for the middle class on the other side. In nearly every realm of daily life--from health care to education, highways to home security--there is an invisible velvet rope that divides how Americans live. On one side of the rope, for a price, red tape is cut, lines are jumped, appointments are secured, and doors are opened. On the other side, middle- and working-class Americans fight to find an empty seat on the plane, a place in line with their kids at the amusement park, a college acceptance, or a hospital bed. We are all aware of the gap between the rich and everyone else, but when we weren't looking, business innovators stepped in to exploit it, shifting services away from the masses and finding new ways to profit by serving the privileged. And as decision-makers and corporate leaders increasingly live on the friction-free side of the velvet rope, they are less inclined to change--or even notice--the obstacles everyone else must contend with. Schwartz's "must read" book takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of this new reality and shows the toll the velvet rope divide takes on society.