A Perfect Heritage (English Edition)
Inhaltsangabe zu "A Perfect Heritage (English Edition)"
Any reader of Jilly Cooper or Elizabeth Jane Howard will devour A PERFECT HERITAGE by Penny Vincenzi - 'Deliciously readable' Mail on Sunday
The House of Farrell - home of The Cream, an iconic face product that has seen women flocking to its bijoux flagship store in the Berkeley Arcade since 1953. The legendary Athina Farrell remains the company's figurehead while Florence Hamilton plies their cosmetics with the utmost discretion. She is sales advisor - and holder of secrets - extraordinaire.
But of course the world of cosmetics is changing and the once glorious House of Farrell is now in decline, its customers tempted away by more fashionable brands.
Enter Bianca Bailey, formidable business woman, mother of three, and someone who always gets her way...
A captivating, interesting story
„The most important thing of all he said was to only do what I was good at, not to struggle with the rest.“ (Quotation page 224)
Content:
The elegant, timeless and famous Athina Farrell is the figurehead of the House of Farrell. Once very famous cosmetic brand, but meanwhile a little bit old fashioned, is the company almost insolvent. A group of investors is ready to give the Farrell a new but last chance. Bianca Bailey, a smart businesswoman and very successful, high-profile financial expert, has the knowledge and brilliant ideas, but many changes are to be made in the family leaded company. The matriarch Athina Farrell is absolutely not open to new ideas, if not her own and she is still powerful – would she risk the future of the famous House of Farrell?
Theme and Genre:
This interesting, thrilling story is about family lead companies, about cosmetics and new markets in our modern world. It is also about family, love, feelings, about social media and bullying, and the problems of very successful working moms.
Characters:
The characters are interesting, well drawn and most of them likeable. Bianca, who wants to succeed in saving the company and who knows that it will work, has problems to connect her intense job with her family live as a mother of three. Florence Hamilton, director of the famous Farrell flagship store at Berkeley Arcade for many years, is just loveable. Athina Farrell, stylish but with traditional business ideas is a legend and still sees the House of Farrell as her own, not willing to cooperate with Bianca.
Plot and writing:
The story is intense, because it is much more than the exciting question, if and how the famous House of Farrell is saved. It is about decision-making and the twists, troubles and happiness in the personal lives of everybody intertwined. The author switches between the persons, and they all have their own stories. In my opinion, that is why this book is so unputdownable, together with the naturally flowing, readable language.
Conclusion:
This book could be described as a saga and generational fiction of a family owned famous
cosmetic brand, but what it makes a really captivating and delightful reading are the personal stories of the members of the family Farrell, all the persons working at Farrell and in Bianca’s team. A perfect book for enjoyable, exciting hours of reading.