More Than You Know

February 20, 2012
Former fashion journalist Vincenzi’s latest page-turner (after Another Woman) intertwines several romances with the world of fashion, the post-WWII real estate boom, changing roles of women in society, and new attitudes about sex and drugs in 1960s London. Upper-class Eliza Fullerton-Clark snubs her family’s wish to see her wed a proper prospect, instead embarking as a globe-trotting fashion editor. Sparks fly when she meets Matt Shaw, a lower-class property developer hoping to make it big in the war-torn areas of London that need rebuilding. Meanwhile, Matt’s sister, Scarlett, becomes an air hostess and falls for a married man. Matt and Eliza tie the knot and have a daughter, but Matt’s misogyny threatens Eliza’s ambition, and years of resentment lead to a bitter custody battle. Vincenzi reminds readers how difficult it was for women in a prefeminist era as they struggled emotionally, socially, and financially to assert themselves and attain equality. Still, this is primarily a lively romp filled with fashion, scandal, and lots of glamour, all tied up for the requisite happy ending. Agent: Clare Alexander, Aitken Alexander Associates.

March 15, 2012
Two sets of brothers and sisters negotiate the post-World War II London reconstruction boom. Vincenzi's latest investigation of British class unrest (Another Woman, 2012, etc.) begins with a country house. Entailed by a family trust, Summercourt cannot be sold by its owners, impoverished aristocrats Sarah and Adrian Fullerton-Clark. Son and heir Charles, a fledgling stockbroker, is in no position to help financially. With no repair budget, Summercourt is sliding into ruin. Sarah and Adrian pin their hopes on daughter Eliza's marriage prospects--Jeremy, an ad exec worth a fortune, is smitten with her. Eliza, editor of a trendy style mag, finds her job all-absorbing as London fashion captivates the world, and bland Jeremy bores her. But she experiences immediate sexual frisson with Charles' former army buddy Matt, a self-starting real-estate entrepreneur. An unplanned pregnancy forces the issue and the two are wed, much to Sarah's chagrin over the groom's working-class antecedents. Matt's sister Scarlett, an airline hostess, has her own romantic troubles. Her lover, a married American, David, claims he's about to divorce, but now his wife, Gaby, is pregnant. Scarlett, outraged because she had to abort her child by David, blackmails him into giving her seed money to start a travel business. While in Greece scouting a small hotel, she meets Mark Frost, a painfully shy travel writer with very appealing grey eyes. Eliza is chafing at the restrictions imposed on her by marriage and motherhood--Matt insists that she give up her job just as Twiggy and Carnaby Street are revolutionizing everything. Charles' marriage to middle class upstart Juliet has proven disastrous--she's spending all the money she erroneously (based on Summercourt) married him for, and he's reduced to borrowing from her father. A few more developments, and the stage is set for the tamped-down hysteria that Vincenzi finesses so well. An intriguing glimpse at British life at the outset of the turbulent 1960s.

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April 15, 2012
Eliza Fullerton-Clark leads a charmed life of genteel poverty in 1960s England, but she chafes at the notion of becoming a happy housewife. Instead, she pursues a career as a fashion editor in very groovy London. The story centers on Eliza and her eventual marriage to arrogant (but sexy!) self-starter Matt Shaw. Circling this orbit is a dizzying array of secondary characters and plotlinesjust for starters, Eliza's brother and his shrew of a fiancee, Matt's sister's affair with a married man, a female colleague of Matt's who becomes his competitor, and a gorgeous Italian socialitebut the combination of a leisurely pace with high drama works. Issues of women's equality and class distinctions feature prominently in Eliza and Matt's marital troubles, but don't read this book for the politics. It is a snapshot of the fabulous recent past (fashionable readers, especially, will have fun recognizing which background characters are real-life figures) and a story of two people who struggle to make love work. Barbara Taylor Bradford fans who have not discovered Vincenzi will want to add her to their lists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)