About this item
From the #1 internationally bestselling author, her first book set in America, the story of a mother and daughter searching for love and happiness, unaware of the secrets that bind them. To find what they are longing for they must confront the past, and unravel the lies told long ago.England, 1932: Grace Hamblin is growing up on the beautiful estate of the Marquess and Marchioness of Penselwood. The beekeeper's daughter, she knows her place and what the future holds - that is until her father dies. Her childhood friend Freddie has recently become her lover, and she is thankful when they are able to marry and take over her father's duties. But there is another man who she just can't shake from her thoughts ... Massachusetts, 1973: Grace's daughter Trixie Valentine is in love with an unsuitable young man. Jasper Duncliffe is wild and romantic, and in a band that might hit it big. But when his brother dies and he is called home to England, Jasper promises to come back for Trixie one day, if only she will wait for him. Grace thinks that Trixie is surely abandoned and tries to support her daughter, but Trixie brushes off her mother's advice and comfort. She is confident that Jasper's love for her was real ... Set on a fictional island off the coast of Massachusetts with charming architecture, beautiful landscape, and quirky islanders, The Beekeeper's Daughter is "a multigenerational banquet of love ... one of the most engrossing reads of my year" (Elin Hilderbrand) .
About the Author
Hi, I'm Santa Montefiore and I've been writing a novel a year for twenty-six years now, which is quite astonishing as I didn't really think beyond the first book, which took me five years to write. I didn't think I had another in me, but here I am, celebrating my twenty-first and polishing my twenty-second for publication next year! Most of my novels are set partly in England and partly in a beautiful location, like Argentina, Italy or France. I write primarily for myself so I figure, as I'm going to be living in my imagination for the best part of six months, I might as well choose somewhere lovely. I adore nature, so I tend to plant my characters in rural settlings - by the sea or in the countryside - and most of them are stand alone, except Last Voyage of the Valentina and The Italian Matchmaker, and my recent trilogy, The Deverill Chronicles, which is set in Ireland from 1910 to the sixties. It started out as three books, but is now five, soon to be six: The Secret Hours is number 4 and The Distant Shores is number 5. I suppose I just love writing about that family so much, I don't want to stop. I love writing. I've always enjoyed stories, both reading them and writing them. I can't imagine life without them. Not only are they entertaining, but they teach us so much about life - and enable us to live vicariously through characters who experience more drama than we do! I'm emotional. I love to be moved. There's nothing better than sinking into a novel and empathising with the characters as they journey through the novel, experiencing both ups and downs...I love to laugh and cry and I want the book to stay with me after I've turned the last page. I don't need a happy ending, but I need a satisfactory one. I hope I deliver satisfactory endings in my own novels. I also write children's books with my husband, Simon Sebag-Montefiore. The series of four books is called The Royal Rabbits of London, about a secret society of MI5 style rabbits who live beneath Buckingham Palace and protect the Royal Family from evil. Our son came up with the idea when he was six years old and it's now being made into a movie by Fox Disney, which is beyond exciting. To see our characters in animation will be magical. In 2020, during Lockdown, I wrote the first of a new comedy series, Flappy Entertains, which was published in spring 2021. The second, Flappy Investigates, will come out autumn 2022. I have a new hardback coming out in July called An Italian Girl in Brooklyn, and Wait for Me, to be released in February 2023. I live in London but rent a cottage in Hampshire, which is where I bolt to when I can no longer take the pace of the city and need to spend time in nature to find peace. We have two children, our daughter Lily and our son Sasha. We also have a Labrador called Simba who is definitely the most spoiled member of the family. My husband Simon is a historian, novelist and broadcaster. We manage to liv
