Midnight Rose

From the #1 international bestselling author of The Orchid Housean 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 impoverished family, forms a lifelong friendship with the headstrong Princess Indira, the privileged daughter of Indian royalty. As the princesss official companion, Anahita accompanies her friend to England just before the outbreak of WorldWar I. There, she meets young Donald Astburyreluctant heir to the magnificent, remote Astbury Estateand 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, shes relieved that her latest role, playing a 1920s debutante, will take her away from the glare of publicity to a distant corner of the English countryside. Shortly after filming begins at the now-crumbling Astbury Hall, Ari Malik, Anahitas great-grandson, arrives unexpectedly, on a quest for his familys 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.