From Publishers Weekly
erennially bestselling romance writer Deveraux's newest (put out by Atria, S&S's new hardcover imprint) tells the story of a 33-year-old woman's successful remaking of her life and self-image after the sudden death of her beloved husband, Jimmie, who was a combination of business tycoon and Mafia honcho. Pampered Lillian Manville is bustled away in the middle of the night and informed that she was cut almost entirely from Jimmie's will. Rather than a portion of his billions, he bequeathed her an old farmhouse in Virginia and a cryptic note referring to "the truth about what happened." Retreating to lick her wounds, Lillian begins to carve out a new life for herself and investigate the mystery of Jimmy's past. As she uncovers the town's buried secrets, she also discovers that Jimmy deliberately created a role for her as his mousy wife and kept her trapped there. As she breaks out of her shell, she loses weight, restyles herself and starts a cooking business with the townswomen, who grudgingly begin to accept her presence. Bailey (as Lillian renames herself) is infectiously enthusiastic yet just insecure enough to make her pathbreaking corporate organization of her neighbors and her concerns about her involvement with Matt, the inevitable eligible bachelor, ring true. There is nothing particularly surprising in this novel, but Deveraux's touch is gold, and her protagonist combines innocent appeal with wry experience in a way that readers will surely find irresistible.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
We first meet Lillian Manville, wife of billionaire James Manville, within an hour of his death, when she learns of her disinheritance and her need to hide from James's murderers. James's lawyer creates a new identity for her and takes her to a rundown house in rural Virginia for safety. There she must learn who murdered her husband, as well as how to survive without him. Melissa Hughes's soft narration weaves the romance of a new identity with the search for James's past. With each chapter, the listener learns more about Lillian's strengths, and is also privy to her delicious canning recipes. As the past comes into focus, the heroine must come to terms with both the truth and her new life. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Lillian, plump younger wife of billionaire James "Jimmie" Manville, has always felt isolated in her husband's world, but when he suddenly dies in a plane crash, she is devastated. Then she learns that he left his fortune to his conniving brother and sister. Bereft of any useful skills and with nothing but a broken-down farmhouse in rural Calburn, Virginia, and the animosity of the press, Lillian moves to the farm, changes her name to Bailey James, and loses weight and has a nose job so no one will recognize her as the infamous widow. Jimmie's last request was that she seek the truth about the "Golden Six," a group of six young men who were considered heroes until tragedy struck all of them and their families in 1968. Through her investigations she uncovers the facts, but more importantly she finds friends and herself. There are gaps in this promising tale, but the droves of avid Deveraux fans won't mind one bit. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
She had a perfect life. Then she got a real life.... For nearly twenty years, quiet, unassuming Lillian Manville has devoted herself to her self-made billionaire husband -- and enjoyed a luxurious life of splendid homes, trips, jewels, and clothes. But when James Manville dies in a plane crash, Lillian's grief is compounded by a shocking mystery: all that Jimmie has left to her is an old farmhouse in tiny Calburn, Virginia. Now, Lillian's unexpected circumstances are leading her to a made-over life in Calburn, an exciting business?and a sweet new love with a handsome local man. But will she have the courage to unveil the truth surrounding a past scandal and the loss of her husband? The answers may be as close as the mulberry tree in her yard -- and Lillian must dig deep within herself to Wght the secrets and lies that threaten to uproot the past she cherished and the future she treasures....This lush bestseller shines with the passion, intrigue, and warmth that is Jude Deveraux at her best.
Download Description
"He needed me. For nearly twenty years, those three words dictated the life of Lillian Manville. Quiet, unassuming, and overweight, Lillian did anything and everything to please her husband, the illustrious self-made billionaire James Manville. Since the tender age of seventeen, she had obeyed this powerful older man's every command and in return she received a life beyond her wildest dreams. Elaborate mansions. Trips around the world. The finest jewels and the most luxurious fashions. Whatever I wanted, he gave me long before I knew I wanted it. But when Jimmie dies suddenly in a plane crash, Lillian's pampered life comes to an abrupt halt. She learns that Jimmie has bequeathed all of his riches to his devious siblings, Atlanta and Ray. All, that is, except an old farmhouse in small-town Calburn, Virginia. Although Lillian is devastated by Jimmie's death and apparent betrayal, she soon discovers a well of secrets connected to Jimmie's past that originate in Calburn and to a long-ago tragedy concerning a group of boys hailed as the "Golden Six." Uncovering those secrets, Lillian thinks, will help her to better understand the man she loved and mysteriously lost. What Lillian doesn't foresee is how her unexpected circumstances quickly transform her. She loses weight, changes her name to avoid further harassment from the press, and, with the help of Matthew Longacre, a kind, handsome local man, begins to renovate the farmhouse and establish friendships with Calburn's quirky townspeople. In time she develops her own thriving business and an inner strength she never knew existed. But, though Lillian's new life seems as strong as the mulberry tree firmly planted outside her farmhouse, there remain secrets and lies that threaten to uproot the past she cherished and the future she will fight to protect. "
About the Author
Jude Deveraux is the author of twenty-eight New York Times bestsellers, including The Mulberry Tree, The Summerhouse, Temptation, High Tide, The Blessing, An Angel for Emily, Legend, and A Knight in Shining Armor. Her original paperback novel Forever... is available from Pocket Books, and her thrilling new novel, Wild Orchids, is available in hardcover from Atria Books. Jude Deveraux lives with her young son, Sam, in North Carolina and in the medieval city of Badolato, Italy. She likes to bake, read murder mysteries, and take photos of Sam -- some of which have won prizes.
Mulberry Tree FROM THE PUBLISHER
She had a perfect life. Then she got a real life....
For nearly twenty years, quiet, unassuming Lillian Manville has devoted herself to her self-made billionaire husband -- and enjoyed a luxurious life of splendid homes, trips, jewels, and clothes. But when James Manville dies in a plane crash, Lillian's grief is compounded by a shocking mystery: all that Jimmie has left to her is an old farmhouse in tiny Calburn, Virginia. Now, Lillian's unexpected circumstances are leading her to a made-over life in Calburn, an exciting business--and a sweet new love with a handsome local man. But will she have the courage to unveil the truth surrounding a past scandal and the loss of her husband? The answers may be as close as the mulberry tree in her yard -- and Lillian must dig deep within herself to Wght the secrets and lies that threaten to uproot the past she cherished and the future she treasures....This lush bestseller shines with the passion, intrigue, and warmth that is Jude Deveraux at her best.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Perennially bestselling romance writer Deveraux's newest (put out by Atria, S&S's new hardcover imprint) tells the story of a 33-year-old woman's successful remaking of her life and self-image after the sudden death of her beloved husband, Jimmie, who was a combination of business tycoon and Mafia honcho. Pampered Lillian Manville is bustled away in the middle of the night and informed that she was cut almost entirely from Jimmie's will. Rather than a portion of his billions, he bequeathed her an old farmhouse in Virginia and a cryptic note referring to "the truth about what happened." Retreating to lick her wounds, Lillian begins to carve out a new life for herself and investigate the mystery of Jimmy's past. As she uncovers the town's buried secrets, she also discovers that Jimmy deliberately created a role for her as his mousy wife and kept her trapped there. As she breaks out of her shell, she loses weight, restyles herself and starts a cooking business with the townswomen, who grudgingly begin to accept her presence. Bailey (as Lillian renames herself) is infectiously enthusiastic yet just insecure enough to make her pathbreaking corporate organization of her neighbors and her concerns about her involvement with Matt, the inevitable eligible bachelor, ring true. There is nothing particularly surprising in this novel, but Deveraux's touch is gold, and her protagonist combines innocent appeal with wry experience in a way that readers will surely find irresistible. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
AudioFile
We first meet Lillian Manville, wife of billionaire James Manville, within an hour of his death, when she learns of her disinheritance and her need to hide from James's murderers. James's lawyer creates a new identity for her and takes her to a rundown house in rural Virginia for safety. There she must learn who murdered her husband, as well as how to survive without him. Melissa Hughes's soft narration weaves the romance of a new identity with the search for James's past. With each chapter, the listener learns more about Lillian's strengths, and is also privy to her delicious canning recipes. As the past comes into focus, the heroine must come to terms with both the truth and her new life. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
Billionaire leaves his widow nothing but a ramshackle farmhouse. Mousy Lillian doesn't complain. She'd always been content to hide in the corners of rich Jimmie Manville's life, anyway. He doted on his plump little wife, though plenty of people wondered why he didn't get a woman who wasn't afraid of her own shadow. Surely he had a reason for leaving his fortune to the sister and brother he hated, or perhaps he was planning to change his will before he died in a plane crash. In any case, Lillian believes that challenging the will is fruitless: she lied about her age when she signed her marriage certificate, so the marriage wasn't even legal. On the advice of Jimmie's lawyer, she takes a new identity as Bailey James, gets a nose job, then slinks off to the farmhouse in rural Virginia. Her consuming grief has made her lose weight, so now she's actually beautiful, just like that. She renovates the place and swaps life stories with hunky carpenter Matt Longacre. As Bailey gossips with nosy neighbors Patsy and Janice (the trio has started a jam-making business), she hears the story of six local boys who, years ago, saved a rural high school from being blown up by a bomb. Acclaimed as heroes, they went their separate ways . . . some now dead, some still living. The six had some connection to Bailey's dear departed husband—but what? When she finally figures it out and realizes that the harelipped teenager in an old photo is Jimmie, and that Jimmie had changed his name, the mystery is solved. The nasty sister and brother who've laid claim to Jimmie's billions may not be his relations at all. Bailey puts down her jam spoon and goes after what's rightfully hers. Hard-core fans might make it through these thickets of haphazard plot. But sloppy prose and unappealing characters mark a low for the perhaps too-prolific Deveraux, author of "twenty-seven New York Times bestsellers" (The Summerhouse).
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