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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018
Copyright © Barbara Taylor Bradford 2018
Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018
Jacket photograph © Lee Avison/Trevillion Images
Barbara Taylor Bradford asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008242404
Ebook Edition © November 2018 ISBN: 9780008242428
Version: 2020-10-01
This book is for my husband Bob,
my hero, who has always given me the freedom and space to write
despite whatever else has been happening.
With my love and gratitude always.
Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
CHARACTERS
PART ONE:
THE BARROW BOY London 1884
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
PART TWO: NEW HORIZONS London/Kent 1887
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
PART THREE: UNIQUE RELATIONSHIPS Kingston Upon Hull/London 1888
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
PART FOUR: THE ROAD TO DESTINY Hull/London 1888
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
PART FIVE: THE WAY IT IS London/Paris 1888–9
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
KEEP READING …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BOOKS BY BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
THE FALCONERS
Philip Henry Rosewood Falconer, founder of the dynasty; a head butler.
Esther Marie Falconer, his wife and co-founder of the dynasty; a head housekeeper.
Their sons
Matthew, his eldest son and heir; a stall owner at the Malvern Market.
George, a noted journalist on The Chronicle daily newspaper.
Harry, a chef and owner of a café, the Rendezvous.
Their grandchildren (Matthew’s offspring)
James Lionel, an ambitious young businessman on the rise.
Rosalind, known as Rossi, a seamstress.
Edward Albert, assistant to his father on the stalls.
Their daughter-in-law
Maude Falconer, Matthew’s wife and mother of his children; a seamstress.
THE VENABLES
Clarence Venables, Esther Falconer’s brother-in-law, great-uncle of James Falconer. Owner of a shipping company in Hull.
Marina Venables, Clarence’s wife and younger sister of Esther Falconer. Great-aunt of James Falconer. A noted artist.
Their children
William, eldest son and heir, working at the Hull shipping company.
Albert, second son, working at the Hull shipping company.
Their daughter-in-law
Anne Venables, Albert’s wife.
THE MALVERNS
Henry Ashton Malvern, owner of the Malvern Company, a big business enterprise and property company.
Alexis Malvern, his only child and heir; a partner in the business.
Joshua Malvern, Henry’s brother and business partner in London.
Percy Malvern, his cousin who runs the wine business in Le Havre.
THE TREVALIANS
Sebastian Trevalian, head of the Trevalian private bank.
His daughters
Claudia, his eldest daughter and heir.
Lavinia, a debutante.
Marietta, a debutante.
His sister
Dorothea Trevalian Rayburn, an art collector and member of the bank’s board.
His son-in-law
Cornelius Glendenning, Claudia’s husband, a banker.
THE CARPENTERS
Lord Reginald Carpenter, publishing tycoon and proprietor of The Chronicle .
Lady Jane Cadwalander Carpenter, his wife.
Their daughters
Jasmine, a debutante.
Lilah, a debutante.
PART ONE
James Lionel Falconer, commonly called Jimmy by everyone except his grandmother, was out of breath. He came to a sudden stop in the middle of the road going towards Camden Lock. The wheelbarrow he was pushing was heavy and grew heavier by the minute, at least so it seemed to him. He rested for a few seconds, leaning against the barrow, trying to catch his breath.
It was Thursday 12 June 1884, and last month, in late May, he had celebrated his fourteenth birthday. He felt very grown up now. After all, he had been working with his father at their stalls in Henry Malvern’s covered market in London’s Camden Town since he was eight. That was part-time until he was ten, when he began to go there every day. He loved the haggling, the negotiating, the wheeling and dealing about prices, just as much as his father did.
His father called him ‘my clever lad’, which pleased Jimmy. He admired his father, endeavoured to emulate him. Matthew Falconer, who was thirty-seven, dressed neatly to go to work, and so did Jimmy. His father never forgot to ask his regulars how members of their families were, and neither did Jimmy. It had been inculcated in him.
Even his grandmother, Esther Falconer, had noticed, since his early childhood, how he copied his father in most things. It frequently brought a smile to her face, and sometimes she even gave him a threepenny bit for being a good boy. She told him to save it for a rainy day. He did. He paid great attention to her.
Straightening, blowing out air, Jimmy picked up the two handles and started pushing the barrow once more. He walked at an even pace, knowing that this main road got a bit higher after it branched off on both sides.
He stayed on the main road, puffing a bit harder, perspiring; it was a warm day. He was almost at the market when he experienced a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest, and came to an abrupt stop, startled by the intensity of the pain.
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