Daisy Goodwin – författare

MY LAST DUCHESS is the debut novel from Daisy Goodwin, the script writer of the epic ITV Sunday night drama VICTORIA. A rich, rewarding love story, perfect for readers of Georgette Heyer, and fans of VICTORIA, DOWNTON ABBEY and THE CROWN.

''Sparkling and thoroughly engaging'' Sunday Times''Deliciously classy. An intelligent pleasure, full of exquisite period detail'' Kate Mosse

Cora Cash has grown up in a world in which money unlocks every door. Her coming-out ball promises to be the most opulent of the gilded 1890s, a fitting debut for New York''s ''princess''. Yet her fortune cannot buy her the one thing she craves -- the freedom to choose her own destiny. For Cora''s mother has her heart on a title for her daughter, and in England -- where they are bound, to find Cora a husband.

When Cora loses her heart to a man she barely knows, she soon realises that she is playing a game she does not fully understand -- and that her future happiness is the prize.

From the script writer of the epic TV drama, VICTORIA comes Daisy Goodwin''s THE FORTUNE HUNTER for readers of MY LAST DUCHESS (THE AMERICAN HEIRESS) and any novel by Georgette Heyer

*A Richard and Judy Book Club title*

''Pure, light-hearted, unpretentious entertainment'' Sunday Express

In 1875, Sisi, the Empress of Austria is the woman that every man desires and every woman envies.

Beautiful, athletic and intelligent, Sisi has everything - except happiness. Bored with the stultifying etiquette of the Hapsburg Court and her dutiful but unexciting husband, Franz Joseph, Sisi comes to England to hunt. She also comes looking for excitement and finds it in the dashing form of Captain Bay Middleton, the only man in Europe who can outride her. Ten years younger than her and engaged to the rich and devoted Charlotte, Bay has everything to lose by falling for a woman who can never be his. But Bay and the Empress are as reckless as each other, and their mutual attraction is a force that cannot be denied.

You''ve seen her on the screen, now read her story...From the creator of the ITV Sunday night drama, VICTORIA, now in its second year, comes the novel by Daisy Goodwin, author of the bestselling MY LAST DUCHESS and THE FORTUNE HUNTER.

In June 1837, the eighteen-year-old Victoria wakes up to find that she is Queen of the most powerful nation in the world. Can this tiny girl prevail against the men who believe that women are too hysterical to rule? And what are the secrets behind her famously passionate relationship with her husband, Albert?

From one of our greatest historical writers comes a new take on one of our most beloved monarchs... Victoria as you''ve never seen her before.

New York Times bestselling author Daisy Goodwin returns with a story of the scandalous love affair between the most celebrated opera singer of all time and one of the richest men in the world.In the glittering and ruthlessly competitive world of opera, Maria Callas was known simply as la divina: the divine one. With her glorious voice, instinctive flair for the dramatic and striking beauty, she was the toast of the grandest opera houses in the world. But her fame was hard won: raised in Nazi-occupied Greece by a mother who mercilessly exploited her golden voice, she learned early in life to protect herself from those who would use her for their own ends.When she met the fabulously rich Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, for the first time in her life, she believed she’d found someone who saw the woman within the legendary soprano. She fell desperately in love. He introduced her to a life of unbelievable luxury, showering her with jewels and sojourns in the most fashionable international watering holes with celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.And then suddenly, it was over. The international press announced that Aristotle Onassis would marry the most famous woman in the world, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, leaving Maria to pick up the pieces.In this remarkable novel, Diva, Daisy Goodwin brings to life a woman whose extraordinary talent, unremitting drive and natural chic made her a legend. But it was only in confronting the heartbreak of losing the man she loved that Maria Callas found her true voice and went on to triumph.

În 1837, la mai puțin de o lună după împlinirea vârstei de 18 ani, Alexandrina Victoria – o tânără ascultătoare, micuță de înălțime și mai ales femeie – devine regina Marii Britanii și a Irlandei. Mulți consideră acest lucru absurd: Drina, cum o numește familia, a fost întotdeauna strict controlată de mama ei și, nu în ultimul rând, de venalul consilier al acesteia, Sir John Conroy – cu siguranță nu are prestanța și vârsta necesare pentru a i se încredința puterea de a conduce cea mai mare națiune a lumii. Și totuși, din momentul în care moartea unchiului ei o face regină, tânăra atât de nesigură uimește pe toată lumea: abandonează prenumele pe care îl detestă, decizând că va fi regina Victoria; refuză să mai fie manipulată de Sir John și este hotărâtă să aibă singură întrevederi cu miniștrii ei. Întâlnirea cu cel care îi va fi prim-ministru, lordul Melbourne, o marchează în mod deosebit. Acest bărbat fascinat, cu o viață ieșită din comun, este primul care o ia în serios ca regină și femeie, iar sentimentele care se nasc între ei îi iau pe amândoi prin surprindere.Însă pentru Victoria nu mai poate exista viață personală, și opinia generală este că trebuie să se mărite cu vărul ei, prințul Albert de Saxa-Coburg. Dar Victoria l-a considerat mereu plictisitor și extrem de critic – sigur este ultimul bărbat pe care l-ar dori drept soț. Surprizele însă sunt abia la început…Succesul deosebit al primului sezon al serialului Victoria, difuzat de PBS în 2016, a determinat-o pe creatoarea și scenarista filmului, Daisy Goodwin, să publice în toamna aceluiași an și romanul omonim, devenit imediat un bestseller internațional.Daisy Goodwin a absolvit istoria la Universitatea Cambridge și este autoarea romanelor Ultima mea ducesă și Sisi. Împărăteasa nefericită.