Pandora - Softcover

Cooper, Jilly

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593046986 ISBN 13: 9780593046982

Publisher: Bantam Press, 2002

Synopsis

Raymond Kelvedon had been a dashing subaltern in 1944 when he had come across the glorious painting by Raphael depicting Pandora releasing the seven deadly sins into the world. The painting ended up on the bedroom wall of his beautiful home, Foxes Court, in the peaceful county of Larkshire. His tempestuous wife, Galina, entertained her lovers there as well as giving birth to her four children beneath its watchful gaze, but after her tragic and mysterious death Raymond kept the painting hidden away in a tower room, its existence forgotten by most of those who ever knew about it. Now Raymond is elderly and distinguished. He has his smart gallery in London, a new wife, Anthea, and adorable young twins. His grown-up children - three sons and one daughter - are all fighting their way into the art world. He has a long-standing rivalry with the smooth David Pulborough, once his protege but now his deadly enemy. Then into all their lives erupts Emerald - lovely, talented, and desperately searching for her real parents. Zach Ansteig, a wildly attractive, mysterious American, encourages her to go to Foxes Court where, he persuades her, her birth mother will be found. The result is catastro

About this title

About the Author

Jilly Cooper is a well-known journalist, writer and media superstar, and is the author of many number one bestselling novels, including Riders, Rivals, Polo, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Appassionata, Score!, Pandora and Wicked. Jilly and her husband live in Gloucestershire. She was appointed OBE for services to literature in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

From the Back Cover

'The whole thing is a riot - vastly superior to anything else in a glossy cover.' Daily Telegraph

'This is Jilly in top form with her most sparkling novel to date.' Evening Standard

No picture ever came more beautiful than Raphael's Pandora. Discovered by a dashing young lieutenant, Raymond Belvedon, in a Normandy ch teau in 1944, she had cast her spell over the Belvedon family - all artists and dealers - for fifty years. Hanging in a turret of their lovely Cotswold house, Pandora witnessed Raymond's tempestuous wife Galena both entertaining a string of lovers and giving birth to her four children: Jupiter, Alizarin, Jonathan and superbrat Sienna.

Then an exquisite stranger rolls up, claiming to be a long-lost daughter of the family, setting the three Belvedon brothers at each other's throats. Accompanying her is her fatally glamorous American Jewish boyfriend, whose very different agenda includes an unhealthy interest in the Raphael.

During a fireworks party, the painting is stolen. The hunt to retrieve it takes the reader on a thrilling journey to Vienna, Geneva, Paris, New York and London. After a nail-biting court case and a record-smashing Old Masters sale at Sotheby's, passionate love triumphs and Pandora is restored to her rightful home.

'One reads her for her joie de vivre . and her razor-sharp sense of humour. Oh, and the sex.' New Statesman

'She's irresistible . she frees you from the daily drudge and deposits you in an alternative universe where love, sex and laughter rule.' Independent on Sunday

'From the pages flies a host of delicious and deadly vices . Cooper's sheer exuberance and energy are contagious.' The Times

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593046986
• ISBN 13: 9780593046982
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 576