Another Woman

January 16, 2012
Vincenzi's newest (after Forbidden Places) is a complicated family saga, filled with lies, unfaithfulness, and unexpected turmoil. In classic Vincenzi fashion, this novel reads like a soap opera, following a massive cast of characters who are poised for sensational melodrama. Cressida Forrest, a high-society English rose, is set to marry a wealthy New York doctor in what will surely be a perfect wedding. However, when the bride and the dress go missing on the big day, friends and family begin an emotionally fraught search. Her disappearance shows no signs of foul play, leaving her loved ones even more confused and distraught. As they begin to look into Cressida's personal life for clues to explain her vanishing, layer after layer of a secret life is peeled away. Meanwhile, the inner demons of other family members are also exposed, rendering Cressida's disappearance a catalyst for myriad dramatic revelations. Few authors can successfully tie together such elaborate storylines and develop such well-maintained characters. Although there are moments when readers will wish one narrative would close so another could be pursued more fully, in the end each one is worthwhile.

December 15, 2011
A runaway bride leaves behind a thicket of family secrets and betrayals in Vincenzi's (The Decision, 2011, etc.) latest export. Set in 1990s England (and originally published in 1994), this novel features several situations that could only exist in an era without ubiquitous cell phones. When Cressida, delicate daughter of society gynecologist James Forrest, disappears the morning of her wedding day, she's well and truly incommunicado. Unfolding over two days, the Cressida debacle wreaks no end of recriminations (and accompanying flashbacks) among James' overprivileged and ingrown circle of family and friends. James himself is at the epicenter--his only brush with malpractice resulted in the birth of Ottoline (now 20, a supermodel, and for reasons that defy cursory explanation, a wedding guest) and the stillbirth of her twin sister. Cressida's older sister Harriet has always resented her--for being their parents' favorite and for causing Harriet's banishment to a bleak boarding school. Now Harriet's fashion business teeters on the brink of bankruptcy. James' oldest friend Theo, a billionaire, unwittingly abetted Cressida's escape by paying for her flying lessons, and was, until his marriage to fifth wife Sasha, carrying on an affair with Harriet. Their mutual attraction lingers. Elderly but still vital godparents, world traveler Sir Merlin and French sophisticate Janine, attempt unsuccessfully to lighten the prevailing gloom. The younger generation, including Theo's dissolute son Mungo, Rufus, son of James and his long-term mistress Susie, and Oliver, the American groom left at the altar, are as mired in melodrama as their elders. Facts emerge revealing Cressida to be less English rose than shrewd operator. As the search for Cressida intensifies, we learn interesting information about the other characters. A brisk and engaging read that manages to demonstrate that there are some problems no amount of money can forestall, or rectify.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012
In the genre of juicy literary soap opera, aka women's fiction, Vincenzi's prolific pen demonstrates she is a master at presenting melodrama, heartache, and racy details for which readers will happily suspend disbelief. Set mostly in the English countryside, this story follows a sprawling cast of characters whose lives become permanently altered by a simple event. A bride fails to show up for her wedding. From jilted groom Oliver to resentful sister Harriet, from rags-to-riches supermodel Tilly to careless billionaire Theo, from hapless parents James and Maggie to patiently waiting Susie, the many characters may at first overwhelm readers but then slowly begin to edge their way into the complex threads of the plot. The myriad characters eventually endear themselves with their individually fascinating stories, each of which could have been its own novel. Vincenzi's lengthy epics satisfy like a box of decadent, luscious chocolates. This offering should draw in readers who enjoy the sweeping works of such saga-weavers as Anne Rivers Siddons and Rosamunde Pilcher.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)