Eugenia Dovedale s father had been High Steward to the Marquis of Buckbury and after her father s unexpected death, Eugenia had to leave Paragon the family s beautiful and much loved cottage on the estate. She and her mother now lived uncomfortably with her Great-Aunt Cloris in London as they could not afford anywhere else. Mrs Dovedale maintained strong hopes of her daughter making a good marriage and improving their position. She was thrilled when the Marquis returned from France and began to show considerable interest in Eugenia. However Eugenia was determined only to marry for love and passion and she dreamed of being swept off her feet. She resited the overtures of the Marquis and then a Russian painter called Gregor Brodosky came to paint her great-aunt and Eugenia fell for his obviously charms and good-looks. Mrs Dovedale suffered a nasty coach accident and the Marquis invited her and Eugenia to stay at Buckbury Abbey to recover. The Marquis s admiration of Eugenia intensified and her mother more than ever pushed her towards the Marquis, but Eugenia s heart longed for Gregor. Her life became more and more distraught and confusing particulary when Gregor arrived at Buckbury to paint Eugenia a portrait. How she eventually found happiness at Paragon and realised her dreams after many twists and turns is told in this intriguing and spellbinding story. If you like Downton Abbey you will love Barbara Cartland . Barbara Cartland was the world’s most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages. As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery. She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation. Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world. She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven. Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author. Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed. Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone’s life.
