For Better for Worse

October 31, 1994
Broughton House, an old English country estate set along the Wiltshire/Dorset border in England, is the inanimate protagonist of Jordan's (Power Play) lengthy exploration into the human drama. Three couples view the house as the answer to their personal problems. Eleanor, with her new husband, two sons from a previous marriage and troubled teenaged stepdaughter, hopes the house will help them bond as a family. Hotel manager Zoe, who dreams of turning Broughton House into a bed-and-breakfast in order to free her lover, Ben, from the demands of his dysfunctional family. Finally, there is Fern, trapped in an emotionally abusive marriage to Nick. She's hopelessly in love with Nick's stepbrother Adam, with whom she once had an affair and who is now involved in the sale of Broughton House. Fern is the most interesting of the lot as she comes to realize that she is a battered wife-sans the bruises-and slowly emerges as a self-possessed woman. Although the narrative is overlong, often rambling, and quite ordinary, women everywhere will find pieces of themselves in Jordan's characters. Ad/promo.

December 15, 1994
In busy London and rural Wiltshire, three women find their lives unknowingly connected by the placement of Broughton House on the market. Fern, married to unfaithful Nick and in love with his stepbrother Adam, fears that Adam's plans for Broughton House will destroy it, even as her marriage crumbles into dust. Eleanor hopes the house will bring her fractured family back together, but instead it seems to be shattering the already tenuous bonds and distancing her from her husband Marcus. Zoe plans for Broughton House to become a showcase for her lover Ben's talents as a chef, but the architect on the project recommends against converting the house into a hotel, leaving Zoe and Ben to face increasing personal problems. As old dreams die, Fern, Eleanor, and Zoe delve deeply into their individual psyches to find strength and purpose to create new dreams and, hopefully, better lives. Penny Jordan, best-selling author of "Power Plan," has written a book sure to be in demand by her fans. Recommended for collections where Jordan is popular. ((Reviewed December 15, 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)