Three Weeks in Paris [Mass Market Paperback]

Barbara Taylor Bradford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002

The most romantic city in the world sets the stage for Barbara Taylor Bradford’s dazzling new novel, a spellbinding story of four remarkable women--each at a turning point in her life, each about to be changed forever by.…

Three Weeks in Paris

In Paris, four young women once shared the time of their lives. Now, seven years after they left the prestigious Anya Sedgwick School of Decorative Arts, they are coming back for the eighty-fifth birthday celebration of the school’s founder and grande dame.

Designer Kay Lenox returns with her career soaring and her marriage crumbling. American Jessica Pierce is determined to unravel the baffling disappearance of the man she loved in Paris. Italian Maria Franconi must face the women whose friendship she lost--and her deepest doubts about herself. And Alexa Gordon knows that Paris is still about a man she can’t resist, even as she is about to become another man’s wife.

In Barbara Taylor Bradford’s enthralling tapestry of relationships, choices, and one haunting mystery, four successful women share three weeks in the city that shaped their lives--and where they will now share a second chance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The bestselling grande dame of popular women's fiction is back with her 18th book, after The Triumph of Katie Byrne. Replete with mystery, romance, secrets and conflict, Bradford's latest examines the lives of four women, alumni of an exclusive arts school in Paris, who must confront their stormy pasts when they are invited to attend a special birthday party. Anya Sedgwick, the indomitable doyenne of the school, wants her four favorite pupils to repair their destroyed friendship and help celebrate her 85th birthday. With the exception of Anya, however, none of the protagonists are the sparkling, unforgettable characters Bradford is usually so adept at crafting. Three of the four women, at the apex of their careers only seven years out of school, seem to blend into each other despite their disparate backgrounds. Alexandra is a renowned set designer; Kay has become a successful couturier; Jessica is a top interior designer; and Maria, whose biggest challenge is to lose a considerable amount of weight before the reunion, is slogging away at the family textile business, with a promising painting career on the side. There is some pathos in Kay's background, but the author glosses over the trauma of early sexual abuse; in fact, most of the tensions in the book are glossed over. Even the spat that tore the four apart is a trifle. But Bradford's knack for depicting elegant surroundings and happy-ever-after romance should satisfy most of her fans.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In Bradford's latest, four women who became friends and then enemies while studying together in Paris must face one another at a school reunion.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dell (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440237300
• ISBN-13: 978-0440237303
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,015,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD

Barbara Taylor Bradford, OBE is one of the world's best loved storytellers. Her 1979 debut novel, A Woman of Substance, ranks as one of the top-ten bestselling books of all-time, with more than 30 million copies in print. All 25 of her novels to date have been major worldwide bestsellers. Her 26th book, Playing The Game, will be published on October 12th by St. Martin's Press.

Bradford was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire (UK) as the only child of Freda and Winston Taylor. She grew up in the Leeds suburb of Armley and after Town Street Church of England School worked in the typing pool at the Yorkshire Evening Post before going into journalism. By the age of twenty she was the fashion editor of Woman's Own Magazine and an editor and columnist on Fleet Street for the London Evening News.

Bradford's books have sold more than eighty-two (82) million copies worldwide in more than ninety (90) countries and forty (40) languages. Ten (10) of her books have been made into miniseries and television movies, making her one of the best-selling authors over the last 30 years.

In April of 2003, Mrs. Bradford was inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame of America alongside Mark Twain, Langston Hughes and Dr. Seuss. She was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours list for her contributions to literature. Her original manuscripts are archived at the Brotherton Library at Leeds University, alongside the works of the Bronte sisters. In 2009, Barbara's publishers began a worldwide 30th anniversary celebration of A Woman of Substance. The first annual Woman of Substance Awards took place on September 10th 2009 at the Dorchester Hotel in London. She lives in New York City with her husband, of 43 years, television producer Robert Bradford.

Her official website is: www.barbarataylorbradford.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CONSUMMATE READING, February 25, 2002

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Weeks in Paris (Audio Cassette)

Acclaimed Broadway actress Kate Burton is spectacular in this reading of Barbara Taylor Bradford's 18th novel, which is spiced with romance, mystery, excitement, and, of course, problems to be overcome. What a pair - Ms. Burton, surely one of today's most accomplished actresses and Ms. Bradford, the bestselling doyenne of women's stories.. A dynamic duo!

With her 85th birthday approaching, Anya Sedgwick, head mistress of an exclusive arts school, invites her four favorite former pupils to return to Paris to celebrate this important milestone. While they were once the closest of friends, Alexandra, Kay, Jessica, and Maria departed the school as enemies. Worlds apart, the women have pursued their individual dreams - Alexandra is a set designer, a valued member of Broadway's theatre community; Kay is a successful dress designer who has married and moved to Scotland; Jessica is an interior designer based in California; and Maria has joined her family's textile business in Italy.

The invitation from Anya elicits different emotions in each of the women, yet a blend of curiosity and a yearning to perhaps heal old wounds compels each of them to attend the celebration.

As always, Ms. Bradford is a pro at creating alluring settings and fashionable people. Her penchant for painting idyllic surroundings is matched by Ms. Burton's consummate reading.

- Gail Cooke

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Three Weeks in Paris, February 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Three Weeks in Paris (Hardcover)

Take away the descriptions of meals, clothes, and room decor and you are left with a not-very-good short story about four immature women. Don't waste your time. If you must, check it out from the library.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Embarrassing, December 28, 2005

By 

P. Maxwell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Weeks in Paris (Hardcover)

I checked this out at the library to listen to in the car on a long road trip - it was an unabridged version. About 30 minutes into it I was thinking that an abridged version would have been better. This is a story about self-absorbed women who are talented, but still need men to "rescue" them. It ends happily-ever-after with handsome men and gifts of jewelry. I particularly hated the part about the woman with the weight issue. It did pass the time on the road and saved me from bad music.