"A good and absorbing read"
The four young ladies were best of friends while
apprenticing at the Paris School of Decorative Arts.
However, by the time they graduated, they detested each
other. Each went her separate way and quickly succeeded in
their chosen endeavor. In New York's theater district,
Alexandra Gordon designs sets. In Scotland, Kay Lenox
designs clothing. In California, Jessica Pierce conducts
interior design. Finally in Italy, Maria Franconi works
for her family clothing business. Less than a decade has passed and now their mentor Anya
Sedgewick is the guest of honor at her eighty-fifth
birthday celebration in Paris. All four of her former
students want to attend, but not see the other three except
for some morbid curiosity about their former friends.
However, each one would do anything to pay homage to Anya
so the quartet converges on Paris for three weeks. Will
Paris enable the women to regain paradise lost as the
women, though a success, remain unhappy and feel they left
something behind during their student days here? THREE WEEKS IN PARIS is an engaging relationship drama
due to Anya serving as a focal point for the other cast
members. Anya is a great character who behaves like a
Grand Dame teacher. However, in spite of diverse heritage
and different current occupations and locations, the female
foursome seems interchangeable as none of them stand out
from the group. Barbara Taylor Bradford provides a heated
tale, but requires one day of reading if the audience is to
remember who is whom. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted March 25, 2002
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Legendary storyteller Barbara Taylor Bradford presents a
spellbinding story of four women transformed by old
memories and surprising revelations when they meet again at
a school reunion in Paris. As students at the prestigious Anya Sedgwick School of
Decorative Arts in Paris, Alexandra Gordon, Kay Lenox,
Jessica Pierce, and Maria Franconi share the challenges and
excitement of developing their various artistic talents to
the fullest under Sedgwick's caring and demanding guidance.
Once best friends, they part enemies, and after graduation
go their separate ways, pursuing careers and establishing
lives in different corners of the world. Alexandra, a set
designer, becomes a leading figure in New York's theater
world. Kay, who marries and moves to Scotland, designs a
successful line of clothing. Jessica, an interior designer,
makes her home in California, while Maria returns to her
native Italy, where she continues to work in her family's
textile business. For each of them, the arrival of an invitation to Paris to
celebrate Anya Sedgwick's eighty-fifth birthday stirs up
complicated feelings: Nostalgic memories are colored by
poignant regrets, and the reluctance to revisit their own
pasts mixes with curiosity about their former friends. It
is ultimately their desire to deal with unfinished business
that convinces all of them to attend the party. During
three eventful weeks in Paris, they visit their old haunts,
rekindle ties, and awaken in one another the sense of
wonder, adventure, and possibilities they had shared so
long ago.
Barbara Taylor Bradford has long been recognized as one of
today's finest chroniclers of women's lives. From her
blockbuster debut novel, A Woman of Substance, to her most
recent bestseller, The Triumph of Katie Byrne, her books
have sold more than 61 million copies worldwide. Three
Weeks in Paris is vintage Bradford, filled with the
emotional power and captivating plot twists her readers
cherish.
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