Grieving widow or wronged wife ... which would you choose? Sophie blinked and looked down again quickly, relieved that everyone would think she was overcome at the prospect of reading her husband's eulogy. Not that she was in shock, realising she had just looked right into the eyes of his mistress. Food stylist Sophie Crommelin has a beautiful life. Now that their two boys are grown up, she and her husband Matt - an acclaimed artist - are leaving London for a new start on England's fashionably boho south coast. But the day after the house is sold, a series of shocks leave Sophie reeling - and suddenly she's heading off to Hastings on her own. Beau Crommelin has always been very much his father's son. Charming, beautiful and creative, he gets on with everyone and is building a name as a jewellery designer. But after Matt's sudden death, Beau finds himself on the wrong end of a scandal and everything he thought he knew about himself is called into question. As Sophie and Beau try to find their feet, new friends and opportunities appear. But the biggest revelation is still to come ... A deliciously warm, witty and moving story of love, family, second chances and starting over.
Author
Maggie Alderson is a British-Australian author (that’s how I’m supposed to write it, but I’m not very good at talking about myself in the third person, so I’m going to can it). I was born in London, brought up in rural Staffordshire, and educated at the University of St Andrews - and then at the University of Life, Sydney campus. I spent many years covering the fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London etc which is the best people watching ever (I had to remind myself to look at the models…). An obsessed bookworm since childhood, all I wanted to do from the age of six was write books. I also hoovered up every magazine and newspaper I could lay my hands on and by the time I was a teenager was determined to edit a magazine and be a newspaper columnist. I have edited five magazines (including British ELLE) and my Style Notes column ran in the Good Weekend colour supplement for twelve years, as well as being syndicated to The Times. My first novel Pants on Fire was published in 2000 and was a bestseller in the UK and Australia. I’ve written eight more novels since, which have been translated into many languages. I’ve also published four collections of my columns and a children’s book called Evangeline, the Wish Keeper’s Helper, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Award in Australia. My latest novel is called The Scent of You and is the story of perfume blogger Polly, facing up to a crisis in her marriage – and her sense of who she is - told through a filter of her obsession with perfumes (and also featuring very well dressed, seriously damaged, red-hot men, which are my speciality). The book was inspired by attending perfume events in London and realising just how many fascinating people there are in that world (and a fair few brilliant nutters). You can read my heroine's blog fragrantcloud.net
