Alice in Exile: A Novel - Hardcover

Read, Piers Paul

3.66

271 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031230398X ISBN 13: 9780312303983

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2002

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By critically acclaimed author Piers Paul Read, Alice in Exile is an exquisite historical novel featuring Alice Fry-a free-thinking and independent-minded woman in a world ruled by men-and the two men who love her. It is 1913 when Alice, the daughter of a radical publisher, meets Edward Cobb, the eligible young son of a baronet who has recently quit the army to pursue his political ambitions. Edward's family could accept his liaison with a girl they consider "fast," but when he proposes, they are appalled.

When Alice's father becomes involved in a scandal, it becomes clear that Edward must choose between Alice and his political career. He breaks off the engagement, unaware that his lover is expecting his child. Desperate, Alice accepts the offer of a rich and charming (if somewhat predatory) Baron Rettenberg, returning to Russia with him to serve as a governess for his children, while Edward marries suitably, but unhappily.

Two of the greatest cataclysms of the twentieth century-the Russian Revolution and World War I-serve as backdrops to Alice's story as she raises her young son, yearns for Edward, and begins to fall passionately for the Baron.

Alice in Exile is Piers Paul Read's triumphant return to the fiction for which he is widely hailed-romantic, dramatic, and rich with historical detail and fascinating characters that make Alice's story an enchanting and unforgettable read.

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From the Back Cover:

"Alice in Exile is profoundly conventional, absolutely old-fashioned, and I confess to having missed a highly advertised fiesta in a Mexican mountain town just so I could stay in the hotel and find out what happened, from 1913 to 1920, to Alice Fry, her ninny upper-class English lover, Edward Cobb, and her aristocratic Russian protector, Pavel Rettenberg, who ends up being the love of her life." --Carolyn See, Washington Post

"Finally, a heroine you can love and remember. . . . It is actually difficult to put the book down. . . . This is a book of great compassion, lively dialogue and fine romance. You leave the feast feeling stirred and contented." --Houston Chronicle

"Few writers bring the past to life as vividly as Piers Paul Read. . . . Anyone who has enjoyed the best novels of Sebastian Faulks or William Boyd will love this one, and probably find it even better. . . . Utterly gripping. It couldn't be better told." --The Scotsman (U.K.)

From the Inside Flap:

"Profoundly conventional, absolutely old-fashioned, and I confess to having missed a highly advertised fiesta in a Mexican mountain town just so I could stay in the hotel and find out what happened." Carolyn See, Washington Post

"Beautifully and vividly told, grippingly paced. . . . [Read] is a joy to read, and one comes to the end of his tale with both fulfillment and sadness." Los Angeles Times

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