Letter from a Stranger

February 13, 2012
Bradford’s latest (after Playing the Game) is a multigenerational tale set in Connecticut’s exclusive Litchfield Hills, exotic Istanbul, uptown New York, and WWII Germany. Filmmaker Justine Nolan, 32, cuts a sympathetic figure despite being tall, blonde, and successful, because all she’s ever wanted is to enjoy the loving family she was deprived of by the death of her father, her mother’s manipulations, and the disappearance of her beloved grandmother, Gabriele. When Justine opens a letter stating that Gabriele is alive and well in Istanbul, Justine jets off to find her. She reconnects with Gabriele and meets Gabriele’s lifelong friend, Anita, along with Anita’s handsome and savvy grandson, Michael. At this point, Gabriele takes over as heroine, revealing her secret past through diary excerpts. Reading about Gabriele’s trials in Nazi Germany, Justine discovers the extent of her mother’s deceptions, the depth of her grandmother’s suffering, and something about herself as well. In want or in luxury, Bradford characters live in style, from white clapboard houses in Connecticut to Turkish villas overlooking the Bosphorus. Gardens, food, clothing, and accessories—everything in Bradford’s world shows taste. If the plot turns simplistic at times, loyal fans will still tear up at the descriptions of enduring friendship and familial love. Agent: Bradford Enterprises.

April 1, 2012
An unexpected letter leads a beautiful documentarian to Turkey, where she reunites with her long-lost grandmother. In a departure from her usual serialized family sagas, Bradford attempts a stand-alone examination of one troubled family, with uneven results. Her willowy blonde protagonist, Justine, is at Indian Ridge, her family's Connecticut vacation manse, when she opens an envelope, with no return address, only an Istanbul postmark, addressed to her mother Deborah (who's in China on business). The letter urges Deborah to end her estrangement from her mother, Gabriele, before Gabriele, nearing 80, dies. Justine is shocked! Ten years before, Deborah, whose venal, narcissistic personality traits are exemplified by her non-willowy figure and brunette hair color, had told Justine and her twin brother Richard that Gabriele was killed in a plane crash. Saying nothing to Deborah, Justine and Richard decide to track down Gabriele. In Istanbul, Justine stumbles on Gabriele and her grandmother's childhood friend Anita (the letter-writer), living in side-by-side villas. Both appear to be in the peak of health and are running a thriving interior design business. (As always, Bradford's descriptions of furnishings, fabrics and amenities are far more rigorous than her exploration of characters' psyches and motivations.) Readers are given to understand that Deborah is entirely at fault for the estrangement--until we learn about its provocation. Not only did Gabriele conceal her controlling interest in Deborah's husband's firm, but Gabriele cut off newly widowed Deborah's income, and put Indian Ridge in trust for the grandchildren, disinheriting Deborah. Nevertheless, Gabriele insists she is the innocent victim of a greedy daughter. Halfway through the novel, the emphasis shifts abruptly from the rift to Gabriele's suppressed World War II trauma, which she has nonetheless detailed in a journal that Justine reads. The journal, depicting actual jeopardy, is the novel's most compelling segment, but it, too, fails to justify Gabriele's actions. Bradford's efforts to assign the moral high ground are doomed to fail, since she can't seem to penetrate her characters' hypocrisy.

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 15, 2012
International best-seller Bradford's latest novel takes readers into the sights and sounds of contemporary Istanbul, where documentary filmmaker Justine Nolan unravels a family mystery that kept her and her twin, Richard, apart from their grandmother Gabrielle, whom they believe is dead, for a decade. When Justine learns from her grandmother's friend Anita not only that Gabrielle is alive but also that their mother drove her away, she immediately sets out to find her. Once reunited, her grandmother presents Justine with her childhood journal, which reveals the hidden fact that she is Jewish and survived the Holocaust. As she discovers how her grandmother's experiences shaped their fractured family and explores eclectic Istanbul with an eye to making a documentary, Justine falls in love with Anita's debonair grandson. Bradford marshals a storm of coincidences to advance her complicated story, which pushes the limits of believability. However, every novel from this acclaimed and beloved author is avidly read, and its engrossing historical dimension, family traumas, romance, and vivid setting will prove irresistible. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The latest (her twenty-seventh) by mega-popular Bradford will be energetically promoted in print and media and is sure to draw readers in droves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)