From the #1 international bestselling author of The Orchid House--an
epic saga of two remarkable women and two love stories spanning the
years from 1920s India to modern-day England.Spanning four generations,
The Midnight Rose sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great
maharajas of India to the majestic stately homes of England, following
the extraordinary life of a remarkable girl, Anahita Chaval, from 1911
to the present day . . . In the heyday of the British Raj,
eleven-year-old Anahita, from a noble but impov-erished family, forms a
lifelong friendship with the headstrong Princess Indira, the privileged
daughter of Indian royalty. As the princess's official companion,
Anahita accompanies her friend to England just before the outbreak of
WorldWar I. There, she meets young Donald Astbury--reluctant heir to the
magnifi-cent, remote Astbury Estate--and his scheming mother. Ninety
years later, Rebecca Bradley, a young American film star, has the world
at her feet. But when her turbulent relationship with her equally famous
boyfriend takes an unexpected turn, she's relieved that her latest role,
playing a 1920s debutante, will take her away from the glare of
publicity to a distant cor-ner of the English countryside. Shortly after
filming begins at the now-crumbling Astbury Hall, Ari Malik, Anahita's
great-grandson, arrives unexpectedly, on a quest for his family's past.
What he and Rebecca discover begins to unravel the dark secrets that
haunt the Astbury dynasty . . . A multilayered, heartbreaking tale
filled with unforgettable characters caught in the sweep of history, The
Midnight Rose is Lucinda Riley at her most captivating and
unforgettable.
