The Other Guinness Girl: A Question of Honor
The Other Guinness Girl: A Question of Honor

Author: Emily Hourican

Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland

Published: 2022-09-22

Total Pages: 427

ISBN-13: 1399707981

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'A gloriously good read' Sunday Independent LIFE SURROUNDED BY WEALTH, GLAMOUR AND EXCITEMENT Lady Honor Guinness is a reluctant wallflower. But that all changes when she marries Henry 'Chips' Channon, a charming and ambitious American. On his arm, she finds herself at the heart of 1930s London's most elite social circles, mingling with aristocrats, politicians and royalty. But it's not too long before Chips begins to prioritise his aspirations over all else, and Honor begins to wonder who exactly she has married. By her side is her best friend Doris, a young woman eager to establish her place in society. A social butterfly who keeps the details of her family background to herself, Doris is hopeful her beauty and charm will win her a suitable husband, but she has no interest in a romantic attachment. Until she is introduced to 'the most devastating man in London'. Inspired by true-life events, The Other Guinness Girl: A Question of Honor is an elegant, captivating story of two young women navigating friendship, loneliness, love and desire as they try to find their places in a society where the rules seem to change every moment. PRAISE FOR THE GUINNESS GIRLS NOVELS 'Utterly captivating ... an absolute page-turner' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Masterfully and glamorously told' SUNDAY BUSINESS POST 'Fans of Downton Abbey will adore this' SUNDAY TIMES

The Glorious Guinness Girls
The Glorious Guinness Girls

Author: Emily Hourican

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2021-05-04

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 1538720256

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From London to Ireland during the 1920s, this glorious, gripping, and richly textured story takes us to the heart of the remarkable real-life story of the Guinness Girls—perfect for fans of Downton Abbey and Julian Fellowes' Belgravia. Descendants of the founder of the Guinness beer empire, they were the toast of 1920s high society, darlings of the press, with not a care in the world. But Felicity knows better. Sent to live with them as a child because her mother could no longer care for her, she grows up as the sisters’ companion. Both an outsider and a part of the family, she witnesses the complex lives upstairs and downstairs, sees the compromises and sacrifices beneath the glamorous surface. Then, at a party one summer’s evening, something happens that sends shock waves through the entire household. Inspired by a remarkable true story and fascinating real events, The Glorious Guinness Girls is an unforgettable novel about the haves and have-nots, one that will make you ask if where you find yourself is where you truly belong.

A Kennedy Affair
A Kennedy Affair

Author: Emily Hourican

Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland

Published: 2024-10-17

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 1399733842

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Two powerful families. A changing world. When Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy left England to return to America, Europe was facing war and Billy Cavendish, future Duke of Devonshire and the man she loves, had told her he could never marry her. Now, in 1943, as London stands a shell of its former self, Kick returns hoping to reunite with Billy - but there are many obstacles ahead. Lady Brigid Guinness has swapped high fashion and exclusive dinner parties for long shifts as a nurse helping wounded soldiers, forming a close bond with one in particular. And yet the only person she can really talk to is a man shunned by her inner circle. Meanwhile, wide-eyed Sissy Maddington has arrived from Ireland under the care of the Guinness family. She's eager to explore everything London seems to offer - while she tries to forget where she came from. As the three women navigate a changed city, they each discover a capacity for love they never could have expected. But will they find the strength to stay true to themselves? Inspired by real events, A Kennedy Affair is a powerful story of friendship, forbidden passion - and how in the worst of times we can discover the best of each other.

An Invitation to the Kennedys
An Invitation to the Kennedys

Author: Emily Hourican

Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland

Published: 2023-09-14

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1399708031

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'Perfect for fans of The Crown and Downton Abbey ' Hazel Gaynor, bestselling author of The Last Lifeboat 'A breathtaking, glamorous and escapist read' Irish Times London 1938: Daughter of the US ambassador, Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy is a huge hit in society's most elite circles, though she isn't always sure she fits in. While Kick is falling for duke-in-waiting Billy Cavendish, a man her parents will never let her marry, across the city Lady Brigid Guinness has no interest in love or society connections. But her ambitious brother-in-law has other ideas and seems determined to engineer a match with a German prince. When they are invited to an exclusive gathering at a country estate, the young women soon form an unlikely friendship: the stuck-up aristocrat and the brash American. Then Billy and Prince Fritzi join the party, and tensions rise as Kick and Brigid discover that beneath the group's façade of politeness, nothing is as it seems. As the days at Kelvedon Hall pass in a haze of sunshine, secrecy and surprising revelations, Kick and Brigid begin to rethink their hopes and plans for the future. Do they still want what they once did? And with the world around them constantly shifting, as war in Europe looms, will they ever be able to have it?

Great Granny Webster
Great Granny Webster

Author: Caroline Blackwood

Publisher: New York Review of Books

Published: 2012-04-18

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1590175387

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Shortlisted for the Booker Prize The real-life Guinness heiress offers an inside look at the lives of eccentric aristocrats in this “masterful . . . macabre fairy-tale and blackly humorous family portrait” (Literary Hub). This macabre, mordantly funny, partly auto-biographical novel reveals the gothic craziness behind the scenes in the great houses of the aristocracy, as witnessed through the unsparing eyes of an orphaned teenage girl. Great Granny Webster herself is a fabulous monster, the chilliest of matriarchs, presiding with steely self-regard over a landscape of ruined lives. Great Granny Webster is Caroline Blackwood’s masterpiece. Heiress to the Guinness fortune, Blackwood was celebrated as a great beauty and dazzling raconteur long before she made her name as a strikingly original writer.

The Guinness Girls: A Hint of Scandal
The Guinness Girls: A Hint of Scandal

Author: Emily Hourican

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2021-09-16

Total Pages: 454

ISBN-13: 1529352908

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'An utterly captivating insight into these fascinating women and the times they lived in ... it's an absolute page-turner' Irish Independent 'Masterfully and glamorously told ... essential reading for history and gossip lovers alike' Sunday Business Post 'An enthralling tale that will dazzle and delight ... If you loved the drama of The Crown, then you will adore The Guinness Girls: A Hint of Scandal' Swirl and Thread 'Engrossing and page-turning ... I loved it' Louise O'Neill As Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh - the three privileged Guinness sisters, darlings of 1930s society - settle into becoming wives and mothers, they quickly discover that their gilded upbringing has not prepared them for the realities of married life. At Dublin's Luttrellstown Castle, practical Aileen has already run out of things to say to her husband. Outspoken Maureen is very much in love but feels isolated at the crumbling Clandeboye estate in Northern Ireland. And, as romantic Oonagh's dreams of happiness in London are crushed by her husband's lies, she seeks comfort in her friends - but can they be trusted? As the sisters deal with desire and betrayal amidst vicious society gossip, their close friends, the Mitfords, find themselves under the media glare - and the Guinness women are forced to examine their place in this quickly-changing world. Inspired by true-life events, The Guinness Girls: A Hint of Scandal is a dazzling, page-turning novel about Ireland and Britain in the grip of change, and a story of how three women who wanted for nothing were about to learn that they couldn't have everything.

Tony Ryan
Tony Ryan

Author: Richard Aldous

Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd

Published: 2013-08-30

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0717157830

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In this authorised biography of one of the most remarkable Irishmen of the twentieth century, Richard Aldous is independent in his judgements and frank in his examination of his subject's shortcomings and eccentricities. But most of all, he writes with verve and pace. Tony Ryan was born in a railwayman's cottage and rose to enormous success, overseeing the spectacular making of two business fortunes and the dramatic loss of one. After an early spell in Aer Lingus, he set up an airline leasing company, Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), which had its headquarters in Shannon and quickly became the largest such enterprise in the world. Ryan was a hard taskmaster and the company reflected his ferocious work ethic. Yet, despite a stellar board of directors, a botched and poorly timed Initial Public Offering in the 1990s saw GPA crash and burn. Ryan lost almost everything. All that remained was a little airline running massive deficits. Ryan set about turning Ryanair around, putting in one of his assistants, Michael O'Leary, to help knock it into shape. The rest is history. Ryan remade his fortune, lived lavishly and elegantly, was a generous patron of the arts, and in every respect larger than life. His spirit is one that Ireland needs more than ever today. As the nation strives for its own recovery, it can find inspiration in the story of how one of its most famous sons rose and fell, and then rose again. Not one to stand still or lament mistakes, Tony Ryan's determination never to give up is the real lesson of this story. He was in so many ways Ireland's Aviator.

The Privileged
The Privileged

Author: Emily Hourican

Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland

Published: 2016-04-07

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 1473628245

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'A Circle of Friends for the 21st century' Irish Times A haunting tale of friendship, loyalty and how one decision, one night, can decide the future. In an exclusive all girls' secondary school, they become friends. They choose the same university, and through smoke-filled nights, lectures, sexual encounters and first loves, their bond deepens: a friendship which seems like it will last for evermore. But then, at an end-of-year party, something happens which changes everything ... Afterwards, they drift apart. Now Stella, a lawyer in New York, lives for her work; Laura, a struggling journalist in Dublin, is still waiting for the scoop to kick-start her career; while Amanda, broken and beautiful, lives a life of slow decay in London. Then the phone call comes which brings them back together, to the friendship they swore would last, and the night when it all went wrong.

Dragon's Truth
Dragon's Truth

Author: Leanne M. Pankuch

Publisher: Vinspire Publishing

Published: 2019-03-30

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 9781732711235

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Rhyannon Kember dreams of dragons, wizards and magic, but, when her sister is kidnapped, and her dreams become reality, will she have the strength to defeat evil and face the dark truth about herself