Grand Affair (CH) - Hardcover

Unaware of the misery that surrounded her birth, for the first four years of her life all Ottilie Cartaret knows is love.  And when her mother, Ma O'Flaherty, moves her family to what she believes will be rural bliss in St Elcombe in Cornwall, their fortunes seem set fair.

Tragedy strikes when Ma dies and young Ottilie soon finds herself in unfamiliar surroundings.  Adopted by the Cartarets, the wealthy couple who run the Grand Hotel, she grows up pampered and spoilt, not only by her adoptive parents but by all the visitors--with the exception of their mysterious annual guest, nicknamed 'Blue Lady', with whom Ottilie is unknowingly and inextricably linked.

But as times change, and the regulars to the now decaying hotel die off, the Cartarets find they are unable to adapt to modern ways.  Only Ottilie has the means save the Grand, even though she may sacrifice too much of herself before learning once again the power of love.

Charlotte Bingham comes from a literary family - her father sold a story to H. G. Wells when he was only seventeen - and Charlotte wrote her autobiography, CORONET AMONG THE WEEDS, at the age of nineteen. Since then, she has written comedy and drama series, films and plays for both England and America with her husband, the actor and playwright Terence Brady. Her published novels include the highly acclaimed bestsellers SUMMERTIME, THE SEASON, THE BLUE NOTE, THE LOVE KNOT, THE KISSING GARDEN, LOVE SONG, TO HEAR A NIGHTINGALE, THE BUSINESS, IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW, STARDUST, NANNY, CHANGE OF HEART, DEBUTANTES, THE NIGHTINGALE SINGS, GRAND AFFAIR, THE CHESTNUT TREE, THE WIND OFF THE SEA, THE MOON AT MIDNIGHT, DAUGHTERS OF EDEN, THE HOUSE OF FLOWERS, THE MAGIC HOUR, FRIDAY'S GIRL, IN DISTANT FIELDS and THE WHITE MARRIAGE.