Valerie Mendes – författare

In the tradition of THE FORSYTE SAGA, a sweeping historical novel that spans three generations, telling the dark secrets of a family torn apart.Larkswood House. The very name suggests birdsong, peace and elegance. It is home to the Hamilton children - Edward, Cynthia and Harriet - who enjoy the freedom and excitement of privilege. But in the glorious summer of 1896, with absent parents and a departed governess, disaster strikes the family, leaving it cruelly divided.More than 40 years later, on the eve of the Second World War, Louisa Hamilton, newly presented at court but struck down with glandular fever, is sent to Larkswood to recuperate. There, for the first time, she meets her grandfather, Edward, home after decades in India.But as Louisa begins to fall under the spell of Larkswood, she realises it holds the key to the mystery that shattered her family two generations before. Will she find the courage to unravel the dark secrets of the past? And can Larkswood ever become home to happiness again?

When Beatrice married Victor Davenport she intended to have his children. He''s a wealthy banker, used to getting his own way. Neither of them bargained for one summer''s evening and its unexpected guest. Set in London, New York and Oxfordshire in 1911, this new novel explores a British marriage under threat, a family wrecked by infidelity and scandal - and an explosion of forbidden love.

"Find Moira for me. Tell her I''m sorry." When Eleanor''s father lies on his deathbed, these are his instructions. They become an obsession, leading Eleanor from Somerville College Oxford and her home in Woodstock to a cottage in Cornwall. Who does she meet there? Will he change her life? And can she keep the promise she made in 1936 to the man she used to call her darling Daddy?

After more than sixty years in publishing, Valerie Mendes steps aside from her own fiction to offer us a unique glimpse into the professional, pioneering and private strands of her life.

In Not Only But Also we read about the major events that shaped her work, the people who encouraged her to write, and those who remain closest to her heart.

Honest, witty, revealing and brave, Not Only But Also celebrates a unique and fascinating life.

"I found my mother''s Memoir very touching." - Sir Sam Mendes CBE, Theatre and Film Director