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Title details for The Lost Summers of Newport by Beatriz Williams - Available

The Lost Summers of Newport

A Novel

by Beatriz Williams
Lauren Willig
Audiobook
2 of 3 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 3 copies available

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

""An engrossing and sumptuous tale, this novel is a fantastic spring read."" — Good Morning America

From the New York Times bestselling team of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White—a novel of money and secrets set among the famous summer mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, spanning over a century from the Gilded Age to the present day.

"Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies...This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

2019: Andie Figuero has just landed her dream job as a producer of Mansion Makeover, a popular reality show about restoring America's most lavish historic houses. Andie has high hopes for her latest project: the once glorious but gently crumbling Sprague Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, summer resort of America's gilded class—famous for the lavish "summer cottages" of Vanderbilts and Belmonts. But Andie runs into trouble: the reclusive heiress who still lives in the mansion, Lucia "Lucky" Sprague, will only allow the show to go forward on two conditions: One, nobody speaks to her. Two, nobody touches the mansion's ruined boathouse.

1899: Ellen Daniels has been hired to give singing lessons to Miss Maybelle Sprague, a naive young Colorado mining heiress whose stepbrother John has poured their new money into buying a place among Newport's elite. John is determined to see Maybelle married off to a fortune-hunting Italian prince, and Ellen is supposed to polish up the girl for her launch into society. But the deceptively demure Ellen has her own checkered past, and she's hiding in plain sight at Sprague Hall.

1958: Lucia "Lucky" Sprague has always felt like an outsider at Sprague Hall. When she and her grandmother—the American-born Princess di Conti—fled Mussolini's Italy, it seemed natural to go back to the imposing Newport house Nana owned but hadn't seen since her marriage in 1899. Over the years, Lucky's lost her Italian accent and found a place for herself among the yachting set by marrying Stuyvesant Sprague, the alcoholic scion of her Sprague stepfamily. But one fateful night in the mansion's old boathouse will uncover a devastating truth...and change everything she thought she knew about her past.

As the cameras roll on Mansion Makeover, the house begins to yield up the dark secrets the Spragues thought would stay hidden forever....

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 17, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780063040779
      • File size: 378420 KB
      • Duration: 13:08:22

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 21, 2022
      Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies from Williams, Willig, and White (All the Ways We Said Goodbye). In 2019, Andie Figuero arrives at Sprague Hall, a crumbling Newport, R.I., summer home, to host an episode of Makeover Mansions, a TV reality show. An architectural historian, Andie has seen her job dwindle from dispensing information about authentic restoration techniques to doing kitchen makeovers “while keeping up a rambling stream of salacious details about the families.” She must also contend with the demands of elderly heiress Lucky Sprague, who lives in the hall. Meanwhile, in 1899, Ellen Daniels teaches music to sweet and simple 17-year-old Maybelle Sprague, whose stepbrother is determined to marry her off to an Italian prince, and, in 1957, a young Lucky shows a penchant for choosing unsuitable men. The superbly paced plot reveals more than one violent death as it races along from period to period. As Joanie, Lucky’s daughter, says, “We must banish all secrets, and all ghosts of the past from these walls. It is the most important part of any renovation.” This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one. Agents: Alexandra Machinist and Amy Berkower, Writers’ House.

    • Library Journal

      August 1, 2022

      The latest from best-selling novelists Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White (The Forgotten Room) is set among the elegant mansions of Newport, RI, and spans three different eras. In 1899, the Sprague family is hoping to be accepted into Newport society by marrying 17-year-old Maybelle to an Italian prince, but the nuptials do not go as planned. In 1956, Lucia "Lucky" Sprague is struggling with an alcoholic and wandering husband and is working to ensure the preservation of the historic mansions. In 2019, Andie Figuero is creating a segment for a reality TV show called Makeover Mansions. The Spragues have allowed her limited access to parts of the mansion, but circumstances carry her deep into the mystery surrounding the house and the family. The three stories revolve around money, murder, and mystery. While they come from different times, cultures, and means, the problems they confront are strikingly similar. Narrators Saskia Maarleveld, Brittany Pressley, and Lisa Flanagan keep the stories lively, each telling her character's story with enthusiasm and charm. VERDICT Mystery readers and Newport devotees will enjoy this captivating story that spotlights the lives of three women and the difficulties they face.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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