Lesley is an author of eight novels, born from a lifelong dream of writing. Her background in architecture informs the precision and thoughtfulness found within her works. She often situates her narratives across diverse global locations, reflecting her life and travels between Johannesburg, Accra, and London. Her novels evoke a strong sense of place while delving into profound human motivations.
MAX SALL is a powerful and ruthless man with a mysterious past. His wife ANGELA, his mistress FRANCESCA, and his daughters AMBER and PAOLA each have their own ambitions and desires. As the sisters grow up in the 1970s, they navigate their complicated family dynamics, leading to a rivalry when they both fall for the same man.
A light and frothy read, perfect for Downton fans HELENA GUMLEY MASON THE LADY 20170106
Nothing fazes Lexi Sturgis. She's faced bullets, battles and bitter rivals to chase news stories other reporters would kill for. Living for risk and adventure, she abides by one rule: don't let anyone get too close. Jane Marshall is feeling desperate. Her family is in disarray and her once high-flying TV career is sinking. She needs a big scoop, fast - and it seems Lexi might be the one to help. For dedicated medical student Deena, the horrors of a war-torn Egypt are too shocking to ignore. She travels across the world to offer help, leaving her younger sister shattered with worry. In a journey fraught with danger, secrets and uncertainty, these women are thrown together in an extraordinary struggle. Can they overcome the pains of their pasts and find the courage to trust each other?
"In a beachfront mansion in Martha's Vineyard, Annick and Rebecca relax, safe in the knowledge that their young children are in the care of life-long friend Tash. But by the end of the afternoon, one of the children will have vanished. Annick, daughter of an actress and an assassinated president, has spent her life running from the truth of her family's wealth. Rebecca has always done the right thing. Perfect daughter. Perfect wife. Perfect mother. She's beginning to wonder if she'll ever get chance to live for herself. And Tash, free from the poverty of her heritage, has the world at her feet. So why is she struggling to keep a grip on her life? This is the story of three very different women across the decades; their pasts, their secrets, and their friendship." Klappentext.
Sam, the ugly duckling who grew into a swan. Now beautiful and wealthy, with a glittering career, no one can understand why she's still on her own. When she meets a handsome stranger on holiday, things finally seem to be falling into place... Meaghan, a true survivor. The teenage runaway who worked her way off the streets, she was swept off her feet by a young army officer, to live on the other side of the world, finally escaping the family she loathed... Dani, the beautiful misfit, desperately looking for daddy in all the wrong places, and finding instead a man who will teach her everything that is wrong and corrupt about love. And Abby, the model wife, everything her husband and family could want and more, but never being herself. Until a dark secret threatens to pull her well-ordered life apart.
In the perfect family, there's a thin line between love and hate, especially when there's so much to hide... The Keelers are one of those families that seem to have everything. Glamorous, wealthy and privileged, life has always been easy for them, on the outside at least. But even the happiest of families have their secrets. Maddie, the scatty American actress, is swept off her fee by Rafe Keeler. A brilliantly talented surgeon, Rafe is handsome, steady and dependable - everything Maddie has sought in a man. So why does she feel so dangerously adrift? Julia loathed Aaron Keeler on sight when they met at Oxford. She was a working-class girl, he was the privileged posh boy handed everything on a plate. But a lethal attraction has set them on a collision course. Niela has been running all her life. Betrayed and abandoned by her own family, her whirlwind marriage to Josh Keeler has given her a place to call 'home'. But Niela knows how easily the past can come back to ruin your life...
Laure -- seventeen, beautiful and already abandoned twice in her young life. Once by the glamorous mother she can barely remember, a woman who brought shame on the St Lazare family name and fled to America; and then again by a handsome soldier who left her pregnant and alone, facing the wrath of her grandmother. Amelie -- caught in a world where she's neither servant or mistress, trapped between the St Lazare family she's always worked for and the simmering hostility of a country on the verge of meltdown. With a past she knows nothing about and no family of her own, she yearns to find a place that can be home. Melanie -- the rock star's daughter who has everything money can buy except the love she craves. A daddy's girl caught in a whirl of damaging relationships, testing those closest to her. In one man, she sees the chance to change her life for ever, but at what price? Three girls in search of a missing piece of their lives; three girls who will change their worlds to find it. In a story that begins in the relentless heat of a Haitian summer and sweeps through the luxury of America's elite to the colourful chaos of East End London, Bitter Chocolate is a glorious tale of the quest for love, marriage and finding a place to belong.
The portfolio is the single most important part of every architectural student's education. This book proides a complete guide to preparing, compiling and presenting this crucial element of the architecture course.The experienced author team gives practical advice for the creation of the portfolio covering issues of size, storage, layout and order. They go on to guide the student through the various forms a portfolio can take: the Electronic Portfolio, the Academic Portfolio and the Professional Portfolio suggesting different approaches and different media to use in order to create the strongest portfolio possible. The team also presents the best examples from international student portfolios to show the reader their recommendations in practice. The book has a companion website where full colour representations of the best examples of portfolio work can be accessed.Also in the Seriously Useful Guides series: * The Dissertation* The Crit* Practical Experience
Max Sall: powerful, wealthy and utterly ruthless, a man without a past. His wife, Angela: a society debutante who fell in love with the dark, handsome chauffeur, and broke her parents' hearts when she married him. His mistress: Francesca, the glamorous Alitalia air stewardess, who saw in Max her ticket out of the Italian provinces and grabbed it - and him - with both hands. And his daughters: Amber, more like her father than she'll ever know - smart, shrewd and determined to achieve, whatever the cost; and Paola, groomed by her mother to succeed where she failed, in getting a man to marry her. Max's women are very different, but they all demand his attention. While Amber and Paola are growing up in the 1970s, their mothers somehow find a way to share Max between them. But when Amber and Paola fall in love with the same man two decades later, they're determined that this time there will be no sharing... Moving effortlessly across five decades, SAFFRON SKIES is a magnificent story of sisters, friends, families and love from Lesley Lokko, one of the most outstanding voices in commercial fiction.
Diamond heiress Rianne de Zoete is unexpectedly sent to an English boarding school by her aunt, where her new roommates—Gabby, Charmaine, and Nathalie—are unimpressed by her haughty demeanor and racism. Riitho Modise, a handsome student from the local boys' school, harbors a deep resentment towards Rianne, as her family's wealth is tied to the political oppression of his father in South Africa. Initially, Rianne and Riitho's mutual disdain sets the stage for conflict. However, a surprising friendship develops among the four girls, uniting them despite their differences. Gabby pursues a law degree at Oxford, while Nathalie launches a successful lingerie business in London. Charmaine, however, finds herself spiraling into a dangerous lifestyle fueled by a new boyfriend, drugs, and alcohol. Meanwhile, Rianne effortlessly transitions into modeling. Everything changes when Rianne encounters a familiar face from her past, forcing her to confront her beliefs and the realities of her privileged life. As the narrative unfolds across London, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, and Martinique, the story captures the transformative journey of Rianne and her friends, highlighting the shifting dynamics of their lives.