Stolen Beginnings [Import] [Paperback]

Susan Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2008

Marian Deacon has always been overshadowed by her cousin Madeleine, a glamorous, selfish model who will stop at nothing to reach the top. But their ordinary lives suddenly change with the arrival of Paul O'Connell, a handsome, charismatic writer who draws them into the mysterious disappearance of Olivia Hastings and the glamour and danger of her life in Italy and New York. Stolen Beginnings is a compelling story of what happens when girls become women, and when love—and fate—get in their way.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Lewis works in television production in London, and is the author of two popular romantic suspense novels, A Class Apart (HarperCollins, 1990) and Dance While You Can (HarperCollins, 1991). Her third book has rough vitality but it's far too long, with endless passages of explicit sex and sadomasochistic violence. Two young cousins from Bristol--plain, intelligent Marian and beautiful stripper Madeleine--find themselves on a collision course when they both fall for Paul, an ambitious would-be novelist with a cruel streak. Paul and Madeleine run off together to launch their careers, stealing Marian's lottery winnings. The bereft Marian lands a job with a film company and travels to New York, Paris, and Florence--only to encounter her cousin and lover under perilous circumstances. Public libraries should skip this novel and stock up on extra copies of novels by Jackie Collins or Pat Booth instead.
- Joyce Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, N.J.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

The London-based author of Dance While You Can (p. 132), etc., presents a contemporary romance/suspense that moves between England, New York, and Italy. Plain-jane Marian Deacon works as a secretary and lives in Bristol with her blond-bombshell cousin Madeleine. The trouble starts when Madeleine sets her sights on Paul O'Connell, a handsome and enigmatic writer. To her chagrin, Paul prefers mousy Marian, and the two begin a chaste romance. But when Marian leaves town to visit her widowed mother, Madeleine manages to make off with Marian's sizable lottery winnings--and with Paul as well. She uses the money to launch a modeling career, and soon her face and voluptuous body are plastered all over billboards and magazines. Meanwhile, a heartbroken Marian makes the acquaintance of a brilliant director, Matthew Cornwall, whose producer girlfriend Stephanie invites Marian to work on the film she and Matthew are making--the subject of which is a rich, beautiful, and artistically talented girl named Olivia Hastings who mysteriously disappeared some years earlier. Marian becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to Olivia, and her probing uncovers some despicable secrets that connect Paul to a sinister bottega where beautiful young women are murdered and then dissected in order to create macabre yet compelling marble sculptures. Madeleine, chosen as the next victim, will be saved--though not before her lovely face is hideously disfigured--by Marian and Matthew Cornwall. Finally, of course, Paul is brought to justice--and the cousins are reunited. Overlong, tedious, and improbable to the point of absurdity: a first-class lemon that's in no way saved by its British accent. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Random House UK (February 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099514680
• ISBN-13: 978-0099514688
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It Could have been better., January 9, 1999

By 

Crystal N. (Nassau, Bahamas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stolen Beginnings (Paperback)

If this is your first Susan Lewis novel please don't be put off. I was so disappointed. The main character was so pathetic. I mean, how perfect could one person be, it was so unnerving! The book rambled on and on about the mystery of some girl who, if you asked me got just what she deserved. I am a great Susan Lewis fan. I like how she integrates the ups and downs of a real life relationship in her books, but Stolen Beginnings started bad and just got worse.

5.0 out of 5 stars A book worth reading, October 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Stolen Beginnings (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. It shows how a woman who is not blessed with physical beauty as we perceive it nowadays can be the winner in love just by being her. Unpredictable turn of events, that will keep you reading until your eyes can't stay open anymore.