Charlotte Vale Allen Books In Order

Novels

  1. Somebody’s Baby (1964)
  2. Love Life (1976)
  3. Hidden Meanings (1977)
  4. Sweeter Music (1977)
  5. Another Kind of Magic (1977)
  6. Running Away (1977)
  7. Gentle Stranger (1977)
  8. Mixed Emotions (1977)
  9. Meet Me in Time (1978)
  10. Julia’s Sister (1978)
  11. Becoming (1978)
  12. Memories (1978)
  13. Moments of Meaning (1979)
  14. Acts of Kindness (1979)
  15. Times of Triumph (1979)
  16. Gifts of Love (1980)
  17. Promises (1980)
  18. The Marmalade Man (1981)
  19. Destinies (1981)
  20. Perfect Fools (1981)
  21. Intimate friends (1983)
  22. Believing in Giants (1983)
  23. Pieces of Dreams (1984)
  24. Matters of the Heart (1985)
  25. Time/Steps (1986)
  26. Illusions (1987)
  27. Dream Train (1988)
  28. Night Magic (1989)
  29. Painted lives (1990)
  30. Heart’s Desires (1991)
  31. Leftover Dreams (1991)
  32. Secrets (1992)
  33. Chasing Rainbows (1993)
  34. Nightfall (1993)
  35. Dreaming in Colour (1993)
  36. Claudia’s Shadow (1996)
  37. Mood Indigo (1998)
  38. Parting Gifts (2001)
  39. Grace Notes (2002)
  40. Fresh Air (2003)
  41. Sudden Moves (2004)
  42. Where is the Baby? (2012)

Omnibus

  1. Three Complete Novels (1993)

Non fiction

  1. Daddy’s Girl (1980)
  2. The Young Person’s Dreambook (2002)

Novels Book Covers

Omnibus Book Covers

Non fiction Book Covers

Charlotte Vale Allen Books Overview

Somebody’s Baby

Imagine this: On her deathbed, your mother confesses to an unthinkable crime. Thirty years before, she stole you from a New York City supermarket. She is not your mother. You are Somebody’s Baby, but not hers. This is Snow Devane’s story. At thirty one, she is a successful child portrait photographer living in Manhattan. Her life is everything she wants it to be. And she has managed to establish some distance from the mother she loves but who would, given the opportunity, smother her with caring concern. Her mother’s deathbed confession upends Snow’s entire life. Who was this woman Snow thought she knew? What drove her to steal another woman’s child? What happened to the woman who, thirty years before, turned around to find her baby gone? And, finally, who is Snow Devane? As we travel with Snow on a course strewn with endless obstacles in her search to learn her true identity and that of the woman she knew as her mother, Somebody’s Baby takes you to the heart of the issue central to every one of us: the matter of our identity.

Love Life

Helen Kimbrough doesn’t lead an ordinary life because she isn’t an ordinary woman. Her relationship with her mother is the first of many strong bonds in Helen’s life. Teddy, her first love, is the disillusionment of adolescence; Stu, her first husband, has to leave before their marriage really has a chance; and, Fraser, an extraordinary friend, wants to show Helen how close two women could be. Through one of her students, the sad and disturbed Gena, Helen finally meets Norm, who isn’t afraid to change his life and even his ideals for the sake of their relationship. And, in the end, he must, finally, surrender the future.

Hidden Meanings

Wynne Shipton is the woman who lives in the small house at the corner. Tony Wakeman lives in the large, imposing house across the road. They are people who have merely nodded politely in passing until the day Tony accepts a delivery for his neighbor who isn’t home to receive it.

The simple act of crossing the road to deliver the package evolves into a heated sexual encounter between strangers. Sexual intimacy is easy; getting to know one another is anything but. They each have past sorrows and present secrets that must be overcome before they can become truly intimate.

Wynne’s past has actual shape in the form of a daughter she’s never met and a granddaughter she’s only heard about. And in one of life’s great ironies, it is this unknown daughter who winds up purchasing Wynne’s house when she is finally able to commit herself to Tony Wakeman.

It’s inevitable that mother and daughter must one day, some way connect, but it comes about as a result of violence that, horrifyingly, breeds even more violence in a generational study that demonstrates very literally how the sins of the father are committed upon the children.

Sweeter Music

Nightclub singer Lisa Hamilton relieves loneliness with anonymous lovers, until one hurts her, but a trip to the Bahamas may help, and so, perhaps, will the warm, loving Chas Clayton. Originally in paperback.

Running Away

Isabel finally has it all: a rising career as a TV producer, a warm relationship with Marshall, the man who wants to marry her, and a tenuous rapport with her rebellious teenage daughter, Denny. But in the blink of an eye, everything changes. When Denny Runs away, Isabel’s world falls apart. Marshall is incapable of understanding her anguish over her daughter’s disappearance, and just when she needs him most, he, too, runs away. Alone, Isabel must deal with the mounting pressures of a competitively cutthroat job, her anxiety over Denny’s whereabouts, and the mysterious appearance of Brian-who could be her salvation, if only she can trust him not to betray her. Charlotte Vale-Allen ‘is at the top of her form here, writing with great sensitivity.’ – Publishers Weekly

Gentle Stranger

When her photographer daughter, Emma, dies as a result of being beaten and raped, Jacqueline Evannier’s peaceful life is thrown into complete turmoil. In her grief, she accepts the consolation and affection offered by Phil Aylmer who happened to be on the scene of Emma’s attack. The loss of her only child sends Jacqueline a former prima ballerina of international renown down an entirely unexpected path. While continuing to need the solace offered by Phil Aylmer, she is becoming an activist: trying to change the way the police deal with rape cases. She is also forced to re examine every aspect of her life, from her casual, ongoing relationships with several, very different, men; to the less than satisfactory aspects of her experiences with Phil Aylmer and his troubled son. This is an exploration of a woman coming to terms with her entire history and her efforts to make changes both inside and outside of herself.

Mixed Emotions

Twenty two year old Margot Seaton meets Paul Rayburn at a party. He is six years older, funny, impulsive, and charming. She’s immediately taken by his role playing, his funny voices and accents, his whimsy. And in a spur of the moment decision, agrees to marry him only days after they meet. Ignoring the small voice in her head that urges caution, and ignoring all the good advice her parents ever gave her, she begins a life with a man she scarcely knows. Initially, it’s fun. But then Paul begins dictating the terms of her life, where she can and cannot go, what she should and shouldn’t do. She must pay initially in small but upsetting ways for what she wants. But as time goes by, the payments evolve into ever worse acts of abuse. Margot is being harmed, physically and emotionally, and she’s too ashamed and too frightened to confide in her parents. So the assaults continue, growing worse with the passage of time. Until, finally, fearing for her life and with the support of her parents, Margot runs. She finds work keeping house for Cameron Harley and his father Claude. It is a surprising and ill kept sanctuary where Margot gradually rediscovers herself and her ability to trust others.

Meet Me in Time

The Burgess family of Remington Park is not like other families. Lisette is a mother who loves too much; who is troubled but doesn’t know why; who needs, but doesn’t know what it is she needs. Ray is a father distanced from his children, deeply in love with his wife, absorbed in his career. Dana, Gaby and Glenn are the products of this marriage. Three confused and uncertain people who keep trying, and failing, to make their way in the world. It is Glenn, the youngest child, who is the ultimate focus of this book; a greatly talented, but bewildered young woman who relies on alcohol to help her find some sort of path through her life. And it is Cory, son of Gaby and grandson of Lisette, who against the odds, in spite of the circumstances knows exactly what he wants and has a powerful inner direction that will allow him to attain it. And it is Cory, too, who, remarkably, has a gift for what everyone else in the family wants but has such difficulty finding: love. The Burgesses are three generations of complex, talented, and driven people, all of whom have been deeply, permanently influenced by the lost and loving Lisette.

Julia’s Sister

Annabel Abbott’s twin sister Julia has committed suicide. This act turns Annabel’s life upside down. She simply cannot comprehend why Julia, who had everything, would call her life a senseless rip off and put an end to it. While Annabel, the studious one, the boring insurance consultant, has doggedly kept moving forward year after year. The detectives who have responded to her call have no explanations to offer, but one of the pair, Harry Schoenman, is very taken with Annabel and offers unexpected comfort. Their brief affair results in Annabel’s pregnancy and also inspires her decision to create a special pregnancy insurance company for women. Working with her feisty assistant Joan and her equally feister lawyer, Frieda, Annabel begins putting her company together along the way encountering nonstop negativism from the men with whom she has to deal. Surprisingly, the person who seems to understand best what it is she’s attempting to do, and who takes a personal interest in Annabel is her doctor, Rhys Bowen. As Annabel’s due date draws nearer, she is forced to turn everything over to Joan and, resigned, goes home to wait for the arrival of the baby. And, frighteningly, the birth of the child proves as daunting and dangerous but, finally, as deeply rewarding as everything else in her life.

Becoming

Sidonie Graham got married and allowed her husband Frank to be the center of her universe until the day she suddenly realized she was overweight, unhappy, and desperate to be free. At the urging of her bold, outspoken Aunt Claudia, Sidonie begins reclaiming her life. Unfortunately, the marriage and subsequent divorce have left Sidonie feeling misshapen and ugly, even when she no longer is. So when she meets Michael Quinn, producer of what he prefers to call ‘erotic films,’ she’s primed to fall into something that can only end badly. And it does. Because Michael Quinn wants to make his dream of producing a ‘legitimate film’ come true and Sidonie is perfect for the leading role. But is Michael Quinn’s dream film art or po*rnography? And does it matter if the end result is the loss of a rather naive, lonely woman’s innocence?It’s a painful, humiliating learning experience for Sidonie, but she does learn. And, having discovered unsuspected strength within herself, she is at last prepared to stake a claim on her future and pursue her own dreams.

Memories

Seventeen year old Hilary Forbes has spent the war years in her parents’ London flat, refusing to be evacuated with her younger brother Colin. When she meets their neighbor’s nephew, Claude deMartin, Hilary is at once taken with the handsome young man. And one reckless encounter leads to her becoming pregnant. Claude has returned to Switzerland. Hilary’s parents are both involved in the war effort, and she’s deeply afraid to tell her mother what has happened. But she does tell them and for reasons she could never guess her parents are surprisingly supportive. Claude returns to London just after the birth of their daughter, Dianne, and does the honorable thing. He and Hilary are married and return to the family home in Switzerland with the baby. But theirs is an arid, loveless marriage and just at the point when Hilary is prepared to concede defeat and return to England, Claude makes an effort to preserve their relationship. A second daughter, Cece, is born. After Claude’s death and Hilary’s disfigurement in an automobile accident, she moves with her daughters to Toronto. Too British and constricted in upbringing, Hilary is unable to speak openly with Dianne who desperately needs the contact. Cece, easy going and self contained, chooses to live with her grandmother in Connecticut. Only time and tragedy draw mother and daughter together in this taut exploration of the importance of communication between parents and children.

Moments of Meaning

In a panic, Lyle Maxwell takes the first flight out of Sydney and winds up in Perth, spending her days in the hotel swimming pool, trying to deal with the horror of her recent experiences with the man she had come to Australia to marry. Jimmy Ballard, an older former journalist intrigued and touched by the aura of trauma about Lyle approaches her, offering to act as tour guide and show her around the beautiful city. She finds herself telling Jimmy about things she’s never before discussed: her famous comedian father who was anything but funny at home, her lifetime of anxiety, and the dreadful mistake she made in committing herself to a man she really didn’t know. Jimmy assures her she’s merely human; mistakes are allowed. It is an unexpected but valuable absolution. This chance meeting ultimately gives Lyle the strength to pull herself together. She returns home to discover that her previously well ordered life has fallen into chaos. Her shop assistant is leaving and in Lyle’s absence she has hired a young Vietnam vet as a replacement. This change in itself is upsetting but then Lyle learns she is seriously ill and must have surgery. While she is in the hospital, the running of her needlepoint shop is taken over by Jess Kelsey who gradually infiltrates her life and her affections. But Jess is suffering the effects of his experiences in Vietnam and before they can be together, they must be apart. In Jess’s absence, believing he may never return, Lyle finally sheds her past history along with her business and her old attitudes and out of love and desperation, she reinvents herself.

Acts of Kindness

What are the boundaries of love, of human emotion? For Eugenie Elliott who loses her lover and her ability to speak above a whisper all in one terrible moment, this question would appear to have no answer. Everything is gone, except for the baby she is going to have in a few months’ time.

For Adele Prewitt, well born, desperately unhappy wife of the manipulative and charming Lawrence, the boundaries have been stretched beyond all endurance until Eugenie comes into her life, making an offer to buy the gatehouse on the property.

Two very different women find in each other sources of hope, of love, of pure elemental kindness. They help one another through the daily battleground of horrors that has become Del’s life, until an act of violence forces them, and everyone around them, to reconsider their understanding of the capacities of human nature.

A powerful and revealing look at friendship and its limitless potential.

Times of Triumph

The African born daughter of missionaries, nineteen year old Leonie Benedict arrives in New York in 1913. She knows no one in the city, and she is newly pregnant as a result of her love affair with her cousin’s husband, journalist Grayson Marlowe. Refusing to be afraid in this strange and challenging new world, and using her brief experience in a restaurant, she undertakes to open her own eating establishment. Rose Manero, the first person she hires will, in time, become not only a friend for life but a partner in what evolves into a successful chain of restaurants. Having given up hope of ever again seeing the father of her child, Leonie gets on with her life, and loses both a dear friend and a lover to the First World War and to the Spanish Influenza epidemic that follows. Yet she forges ahead. Set in the period between the start of WWI and the end of WWI, we travel through the time with Leonie, her children, Grayson, and Rose; following the social and political events of the time. With a heart and a spirit that will not be broken, Leonie is a rare and remarkable woman.

Gifts of Love

Gillian Blake an architect, recently arrived from England, is the owner of a house on Pleasant Avenue that she has personally, painstakingly renovated. Painfully shy to the extent that she stutters helplessly in uncomfortable situations, she nevertheless begins to form friendships with her tenants: the gracious, elderly Mrs. O’Brian, and the young, delightful Jenny. But everyone in the house on Pleasant Avenue has well hidden secrets.A new job with an architectural firm sets Gillian on a collision course with Gabe Hadley, the principal of the school she is seeing to completion. But the job also offers the possibility of additional new friendships and a route back into life. Gillian and Gabe have each suffered terrible personal losses. Yet slowly they find, through their blossoming feelings for each other and for Jenny and Mrs. O’Brian, that a future might just be possible in spite of the burdens of the past.

Promises

During the Great Depression, Jessica Greaves Promises her father she will look after her younger sister a promise that has undreamed of repercussions.

Destinies

In the course of ten years, three people connect at different times, each leaving an indelible impression on the other. Then a terrifying fire unites them in a most unexpected fashion.

Intimate friends

The suicide of her husband upends TV producer Lynne Craig’s world, as she tries to come to terms with his death and deal with the cutthroat world of 1960s television.

Pieces of Dreams

There are the visible flaws and the not so visible flaws, but everyone has them or thinks they do. In the case of Caley Burrell, her flaws are very visible. Being sent face first through the windshield of a car has left her irreparably, shockingly damaged. And after a number unsuccessful surgical procedures, she has said, No more. As a result of the accident, her life is as shattered as her face and she now wants either a beginning or an end. To all outward appearances Martin Maddox has it all: a wife and twin sons he adores, and great success as a painter. But Martin is a drunk, and his wife Marian has had enough. She’s leaving Martin, taking the boys back to England. And he can’t seem to bring himself to do the one thing that would stop this happening: give up drinking. Caley sets off on the highway in her big rattletrap car. And Martin flies to England in pursuit of his family, vowing to re establish control of his life. But it is not to be. Two people traveling somewhat aimlessly on paths that are destined to converge. And when they arrive at the intersection, their faith and trust is to be put to one last test. They must each decide how much flaws, visible or invisible, actually matter to human interaction.

Matters of the Heart

It is wartime England in 1940 and Frances Holden has gone subtly mad at the age of forty; her actions have consequences that reverberate through decades.A shocking, hateful yet clever woman, Frances manages to alienate everyone who cares for her, particularly her long suffering husband Arthur and her oldest friend Mandy. Frances is especially cruel to her young daughter Hadleigh. When her appalling behavior results indirectly in the deaths of three people, matters reach crisis point and Frances is forcibly institutionalized. A carefully planned effort to take her own life fails, and out of pity Arthur rescues his wife from the institution. Over the years, and in the course of this remarkable book, Frances becomes someone we care about almost in spite of ourselves. A singularly magnetic character who commands respect for her intelligence and plainspokenness, she manages to redeem herself ultimately through her delightful granddaughter Bonita. For Hadleigh, who throughout her childhood suffered at the hands of her mother, coming to terms with the woman is no easy thing. But in the end, despite numerous suicide attempts and her own battle with alcoholism, Hadleigh is at last able to acknowledge and honor the extraordinary, and often wildly funny woman who gave her life.

Time/Steps

Beatrice Crane and Bobby Bradley were Hollywood’s greatest movie dance team until the events of one horrific night changed their lives forever.

Illusions

Illusions‘ provides an in depth exploration of the victim/captor relationship that is sympathetic to both parties, allowing readers to see the lengths to which grief can sometimes take people.

Dream Train

An assignment to write about the Orient Express offers photojournalist JoannaJames a new view of herself and of others.

Night Magic

‘In ‘Night Magic‘, Charlotte Vale Allen rewrites ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and sets it in a Connecticut suburb’. ‘New York Post’.

Painted lives

Mattie Sylvester, a widow of one of America’s most celebrated painters, reveals the sordid truth of the past, and of her husband, to her secretary.

Heart’s Desires

A childhood tragedy informs the life of a woman who is the successful mother of two daughters, but who cannot come to terms with the past and who cannot escape the shadow of her own mother. From Manhattan in the 50s to London in the 60s and 70s, Alyssa’s choices and decisions are influenced by her divorced parents, by her powerful grandmother, by the two men in her life Andrew, the gentle and unassuming actor destined for great success, and Jeremy, the ferociously ambitious actor who is destined for success of another kind and, ultimately, by her own children. Alyssa feels compelled to live with the results of her choices, good and bad. But despite her best efforts, her childhood tragedy reverberates through to a second generation. Finally, ironically, through a series of losses, Alyssa realizes her right to choose and to altogether and successfully be herself. Charlotte Vale Allen writing as Katharine Marlowe reissue title

Leftover Dreams

Two sisters living in Toronto in the 1950s struggle to coexist with their angry, abusive mother. When one sister falls victim to a violent act, the other must go forward alone.

Secrets

Charlotte Vale Allen writing as Katharine Marlowe. The haunting story of successful young Emma Bellamy, newly widowed and struggling to redefine her personal and professional life in the absence of her husband. She is shaken when her husband’s lawyer reveals that he has received an extremely suggestive letter a letter signed by Emma herself which she has no recollection of writing. Her nightmare is only beginning. Soon it becomes clear that every important person in Emma’s life has been the recipient of an alarmingly truthful missive from Emma letters that Emma swears she never wrote. Her world is turned inside out by the explosive reactions of her best friend, of her stepchildren, and of her business colleagues, all of which are amazed to learn what Emma really thinks of them. But Emma is the most surprised, and terrified, of all.

Nightfall

A school teacher’s life starts to slide out of control as someone begins vandalizing her home and possessions.

Dreaming in Colour

When an abused wife seeks refuge from her husband in their home, Alma and Eva find that the woman’s entrance into their house has begun to haunt their dreams and private thoughts and dredge up painful old memories.

Claudia’s Shadow

As her sister’s sole heir, Rowena Graham moves into Claudia’s house their old family home and begins to sort out her sister’s affairs. She also steps in as manager of Claudia’s restaurant and gradually leaves her former life and successful career behind as she relentlessly searched for the truth about her sister’s death. There was no note and the suicide verdict feels all wrong. And while her beautiful younger sister had always been difficult and unpredictable warm and affectionate one day, calculating and cruel the next Rowena is certain Claudia would never have taken her own life. Rowena’s unexpected discovery of a trove of documents and photographs unearths a host of secrets kept not just by Claudia but by every member of the family. Unraveling a tangle of lies and distortions that hid the dynamics of her family, Rowena uncovers the secret to Claudia’s death. And finally sets herself free from the shadows of the past.

Mood Indigo

It is late winter 1934 in Manhattan when DeeDee Carlson dies after falling from the balcony of her apartment at the Ansonia. Her boyfriend, Chip Stevenson, begs Honoria Barlow his late mother’s closest friend, and his, as well to look into the circumstances of DeeDee’s death. Honoria insists that her experience as a script doctor doesn’t qualify her to play gumshoe, but out of love for Chip, and against the wishes of her protective, Russian born husband, Mikhail, she agrees to do a little sleuthing. This commitment takes Honoria and her assistant, Maybelle, into some of New York’s most elegant dwellings where they meet the dead girl’s mother and friends. Some of DeeDee’s friends adored her; some loathed her. The young woman had many secrets, and as Honoria begins to uncover them, the situation turns as dangerous as the murderously cold weather. With homeless families living in a Hooverville in Central Park, and the popular radio shows, restaurants, nightclubs, and shops, the era is meticulously reproduced; it’s black and white, like a film that’s the end product of one of Honoria’s doctored scripts. It’s Manhattan; it’s a clever, unique woman working her way through a puzzle; and, ultimately, it’s a matter of whether Honoria will survive the experience.

Parting Gifts

When Kyra Latimer loses her husband to a freak accident in Manhattan, she can’t absorb the fact of his absence and can’t imagine how she’ll be able to move into the future without him. But on the day of his funeral, the unimaginable happens. A young woman, with a small boy in tow, shows up at Kyra’s home, claiming to be the child Kyra surrendered for adoption some twenty odd years before. Refusing to accept the truth that she cannot possibly be Kyra’s child Jennifer Cullen insists on leaving her three year old son, Jesse, with his ‘grandmother.’ If Kyra won’t take the boy, Jennifer is going to turn him over to Children’s Aid. Touched by the boy’s visible neglect, and as deaf to reason in her own way as Jennifer is in hers, Kyra agrees to keep Jesse. After hastily drawn up legal documents are signed by both parties, Jennifer goes hurrying off, and Kyra takes on a new role as mother. As it turns out, Jesse is no ordinary child, and Kyra is no ordinary mother. In the course of their life together in London, surrounded by the illustrious and eccentric members of Kyra’s renowned British theatrical family, Kyra and Jesse flourish and founder in unanticipated ways. Until, finally, Kyra is forced to confront an impossible choice: whether or not to honor the life or death decision of her adopted son. Original and heart wrenching, Parting Gifts deals with a remarkable boy and the woman who, in time, discovers not only the truth behind how he came to be in her life, but also a very special talent for parenting.

Grace Notes

Early in her marriage, Grace Loring became the victim of her husband’s sudden, unpredictable rages. Taking her infant daughter and a few belongings, Grace got into her car and fled the safety of her brother Gus’s home in Vermont. Now Grace is a successful author. Devoted fans find support and comfort in her unflinchingly honest writing and regularly contact her via her Web site. Her daughter, Nicky, has thrived in her uncle’s happy, yet unorthodox, home; Gus is the only father she has known and she adores him. And Grace has become a caregiver to her brother since the onset of a debilitating disease. Accustomed to abused women writing to ask for advice, Grace is sympathetic when she is contracted by a troubled young woman named Stephanie Baine. In the course of their e mail correspondence, Stephanie reveals details of a nightmarish life: her terrifying abduction as a teenager and the complete lack of support from her parents; the psychological and escalating physical abuse she is now undergoing at the hands of her husband. Grace’s advice is clear and to the point: Stephanie must do whatever is necessary to escape this madman. After several weeks of an intensive exchange, the e mails abruptly stop, and Grace begins to fear the worst for Stephanie. Then the e mails resume, and what Grace comes to learn casts doubt on everything she believed about the person she thought she knew. Who is Stephanie Baine? Has anything she’s told Grace been the truth? Is she really a young woman in danger, or is something else something sinister, even deadly going on?

Fresh Air

A New York Times Bestselling Author Lucinda Hunter has been alone in the Connecticut farmhouse that was once her mother’s. Her life has become a small thing. One July morning as she sits near the window, something in the garden catches her eye: a little girl in shorts and a t shirt, her bare feet in outsize sneakers. Taken with the girl’s sweet nature and generosity of spirit, Lucinda gradually finds herself drawn back into the world.

Sudden Moves

After years of self imposed, fearful reclusiveness inside her home, Lucinda Hunter has started moving out into the world. She has found her family and her isolation has ended, largely thanks to Katanya Taylor, who ventured into her garden five years earlier and beckoned to Lucinda to come outside. Now a feisty, somewhat irreverent teenager, Katanya comes with her mother and grandmother to spend weekends with Lucinda their initial connection stronger than ever. Everything is going well. Yet Lucinda feels an urgent anxiety, fearful that she will never have sufficient time to spend with her own very elderly grandmother, that she will never be able to absorb all the details of her family history. She is racing against time. Yet she is happier than she’s been since childhood. And meeting Eli Carter, her grandmother’s doctor, presents an unexpected and challenging set of new circumstances. Then, on September 11, 2001, the world is cataclysmically changed. In the aftermath, faced with the shattering repercussions that affect everyone and everything Lucinda knows, she is pulled, finally, entirely, into a new reality. With insightful sensitivity Charlotte Vale Allen explores the hearts and minds of Lucinda, her friends and family as they grapple with the terrible upheaval in their lives as a result of a single day’s events.

Three Complete Novels

A collection of three highly charged romance novels by the best selling author features Illusions, Dream Train, and Night Magic.

Daddy’s Girl

Emancipated long before anybody had heard of it, she escaped her family to save her life. The life that is recounted in Daddy’s Girl is harrowing, yet the memoir is distinguished by Allen’s heroic efforts to rescue and support herself, by herself. This memoir emphasizes in addition to a commitment not to live life as a ‘walking wound’ the power of language. Allen has always believed in the potency of words; she began writing as a child, and used notes to communicate with women she admired. She began writing fiction in order to get Daddy’s Girl published, which supports the idea central to confessional writers, that the self may be transformed by the self in writing.

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