The Lost Summers of Newport - Large Print by Beatriz Williams & Lauren Willig & Karen White (Paperback)

About the Book

"2019: Andie Figuero has just landed her dream job as a producer of Mansion Makeover, a popular reality show about restoring America's most lavish historic houses. Andie has high hopes for her latest project: the once glorious but gently crumbling Sprague Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, summer resort of America's gilded class--famous for the lavish 'summer cottages' of Vanderbilts and Belmonts. But Andie runs into trouble: the reclusive heiress who still lives in the mansion, Lucia 'Lucky' Sprague, will only allow the show to go forward on two conditions: One, nobody speaks to her. Two, nobody touches the mansion's ruined boathouse. 1899: Ellen Daniels has been hired to give singing lessons to Miss Maybelle Sprague, a naive young Colorado mining heiress whose stepbrother John has poured their new money into buying a place among Newport's elite. John is determined to see Maybelle married off to a fortune-hunting Italian prince, and Ellen is supposed to polish up the girl for her launch into society. But the deceptively demure Ellen has her own checkered past, and she's hiding in plain sight at Sprague Hall. 1958: Lucia 'Lucky' Sprague has always felt like an outsider at Sprague Hall. When she and her grandmother--the American-born Princess di Conti--fled Mussolini's Italy, it seemed natural to go back to the imposing Newport house Nana owned but hadn't seen since her marriage in 1899. Over the years, Lucky's lost her Italian accent and found a place for herself among the yachting set by marrying Stuyvesant Sprague, the alcoholic scion of her Sprague stepfamily. But one fateful night in the mansion's old boathouse will uncover a devastating truth...and change everything she thought she knew about her past. As the cameras roll on Mansion Makeover, the house begins to yield up the dark secrets the Spragues thought would stay hidden forever...."--

Book Synopsis

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"An engrossing and sumptuous tale, this novel is a fantastic spring read." -- Good Morning America

From the New York Times bestselling team of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White--a novel of money and secrets set among the famous summer mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, spanning over a century from the Gilded Age to the present day.

"Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies...This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

2019: Andie Figuero has just landed her dream job as a producer of Mansion Makeover, a popular reality show about restoring America's most lavish historic houses. Andie has high hopes for her latest project: the once glorious but gently crumbling Sprague Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, summer resort of America's gilded class--famous for the lavish "summer cottages" of Vanderbilts and Belmonts. But Andie runs into trouble: the reclusive heiress who still lives in the mansion, Lucia "Lucky" Sprague, will only allow the show to go forward on two conditions: One, nobody speaks to her. Two, nobody touches the mansion's ruined boathouse.

1899: Ellen Daniels has been hired to give singing lessons to Miss Maybelle Sprague, a naive young Colorado mining heiress whose stepbrother John has poured their new money into buying a place among Newport's elite. John is determined to see Maybelle married off to a fortune-hunting Italian prince, and Ellen is supposed to polish up the girl for her launch into society. But the deceptively demure Ellen has her own checkered past, and she's hiding in plain sight at Sprague Hall.

1958: Lucia "Lucky" Sprague has always felt like an outsider at Sprague Hall. When she and her grandmother--the American-born Princess di Conti--fled Mussolini's Italy, it seemed natural to go back to the imposing Newport house Nana owned but hadn't seen since her marriage in 1899. Over the years, Lucky's lost her Italian accent and found a place for herself among the yachting set by marrying Stuyvesant Sprague, the alcoholic scion of her Sprague stepfamily. But one fateful night in the mansion's old boathouse will uncover a devastating truth...and change everything she thought she knew about her past.

As the cameras roll on Mansion Makeover, the house begins to yield up the dark secrets the Spragues thought would stay hidden forever....

Review Quotes

"If, like me, you're mourning the season end of the HBO series, The Gilded Age, I have good news: Atlanta author Karen White along with Beatriz William and Lauren Willig have penned The Lost Summers of Newport, a historic mystery spanning more than a century of the once-wealthy Sprague family residing in an extravagant Gilded Age home in Newport, Rhode Island." - The Augusta Chronicle
"A sweeping historical novel about the strength of women who find themselves in impossible situations." - Popsugar on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"Full of heart and intrigue, the authors' latest collaboration captures women's perseverance and how history connects us all." - Booklist on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"For most people, staying at a grand hotel is a rare treat. It's a time to indulge in luxury, to be catered to with impeccable service and to forget about the outside world until check-out. It's not unlike the experience a reader gets when reading All the Ways We Said Goodbye." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies from Williams, Willig, and White...This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This triple POV novel comes form the minds of three historical fiction powerhouses, so you know it's going to be a delight." - Buzzfeed
"The Lost Summers of Newport--by a trio of historical fiction icons, Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White--is an elegant approach to the old 'trouble in paradise' scenario, spanning generations of deceit in a New England mansion." - Chicago Tribune
"An engrossing and sumptuous tale, this novel is a fantastic spring read." - Good Morning America
"Three historical fiction powerhouses combine efforts to create an enthralling adventure spanning from the onset of World War I to the 1960s, telling the story of three women and their stay at the famous Ritz Hotel in Paris." - Book Riot on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"All three of these 'team W' writers create engaging characters and complex relationships while setting a tone that matches the story's time period...The twist at the center of the story is worth the price of admission on its own. A great choice for anyone looking for clever historical fiction with plenty of drama, action, and surprises in every chapter." - Library Journal on All the Ways We Said Goodbye