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Summary
Summary
From New York Times bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford comes the highly anticipated second book in the House of Falconer saga.
James Lionel Falconer has risen quickly from a mere shop worker to being the right-hand man of Henry Malvern, head of the most prestigious shipping company in London. With Malvern's daughter Alexis running away to the country after a terrible tragedy and refusing to return, James' ascent to head of the company seems inevitable. But even a charmed life like James' is not without its setbacks.
A terrible fire threatens to end his merchant career before it's had a chance to truly begin. Mrs. Ward, James' former paramour, has a secret that could change his life forever. And his distaste for Alexis Malvern is slowly growing into feelings of quite a different sort. Can James continue to be the master of his own fate, or will all of his charm, intelligence, and wit finally fail him when he has to enter the lion's den?
Spanning the years from 1889 to 1892, In the Lion's Den is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her historical storytelling best.
Author Notes
Barbara Taylor Bradford was born in Upper Armley, Leeds, in Yorkshire on May 10, 1933. At the age of fifteen, she was working as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post. After six months, she was promoted to cub reporter in the newsroom. At eighteen, she became the newspaper's Woman's Page Editor and at twenty, she headed for London where she became Fashion Editor of the magazine Woman's Own. She also reported for the London Evening News, Today Magazine and other publications, covering everything from crime to show business. In 1961, she met her future husband Robert Bradford and they were married in 1963. After they married, they moved to the United States and she began writing a syndicated column, Designing Woman. The column was published for twelve years and received several awards.
Her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, was published in 1979 and she has since written over 20 novels. Many of her novels have been made into television mini-series including A Woman of Substance, Voice of the Heart, Act of Will, Everything to Gain and A Secret Affair. She also wrote children's books and eight books on decorating.
She has received numerous awards for her work including the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communication Inc in 1985, the City of Hope's Spirit of Life Award in 1995, the Five Towns Music and Art Foundation's Award of Achievement for outstanding accomplishments in the field of Literature in 1997 and the British Excellence Award in 1998. She was inducted into the Matrix Hall of Fame in 1998 and into the Writers Hall of Fame of America in 2003. In 2007, she was awarded an OBE (The Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to Literature. She is a member of the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress. She is also involved in several charity projects such as Literacy Partners and the Police Athletic League of New York City. She made the New York Times Best Seller List in 2014 with her title Cavendon Hall.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestseller Bradford adds a leisurely paced installment to her House of Falconer series (after Master of His Fate), set in Victorian England. The story tracks aspiring merchant James Falconer's rising career at the shipping and real estate firm Malvern Market, run by Henry Malvern. While Henry's middle-aged daughter, Alexis, the company's expected successor, grieves for her dead fiancé, Henry promotes the ambitious James, 21, to second-in-command. After a family member embezzles from the firm, James proposes building a gallery of shops as a way to recoup those losses, but arson strikes the half-built gallery. (Though, curiously, no suspects are suggested, leaving readers to anticipate a reveal in a future series installment.) Bradford does offer a secret from James's past love life, staging a seductive tryst between James and the lovely Irina, a dress designer, while a highly charged love affair between James and Alexis moves the plot. Bradford evokes the Victorian setting with aplomb, but a ham-handed intervention by Alexis's late fiancé's adult daughter, who professes to have looked up to her while telling her to "get back looks," muddles the author's apparent appeal to current values with its adherence to Victorian convention. Series fans will enjoy following along as the plot deepens. (May.)
Kirkus Review
The second in Bradford's House of Falconer series about a retail dynasty. By 1889, James Falconer, soon to turn 21, has made himself indispensable to commerce impresario Henry Malvern while dreaming of founding his own retail empire. As in the first installment, Master of His Fate (2018), James' extended family is still warm and supportive. The decor of every dwelling, be it ever so bourgeois, is still lavishly detailed. And James is still exhibiting his preference for older women. His lover Mrs. Ward, age 31, left London for health reasons, but now there is Irina, age 22, fetching great-granddaughter of a Russian ambassador. One senses immediately, despite their speedy progress from attraction to a perfunctory "insert sex scene here," that Irina is just a place holder--until James and Alexis, Henry's daughter, between whom an attraction has been brewing since Master, can resolve their differences. Which seem to have mostly to do with competition for her father's good graces. To Alexis' extreme resentment, James has effectively usurped her status as Malvern's chief deputy since Alexis has chosen to remain, grieving, in the Kentish cottage her late fiance, Sebastian Trevalian, built for her before his untimely demise. While avoiding her own family, Alexis is still involved with Sebastian's clan, which inhabits the large Trevalian country estate nearby--and she's hurt when the Trevalians avert a potential scandal, involving an unwed mother, without her help. Too often, such misunderstandings take the place of actual conflict. The mystery of who hired thugs to attack James and a friend, left dangling in Vol. I, is also too abruptly solved here. As the undisputed heiress, however capriciously she treats her father, to the company James can only claim sweat equity in, Alexis is clearly a more suitable match for the budding tycoon. So of course they will end up together--it's just a matter of how much window dressing gets in the way. Despite a few mild threats, nothing to suggest any actual lions in this den. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This second book in the Victorian-era House of Falconer saga, following Master of His Fate (2018), sees James Lionel Falconer, of humble origin, swiftly working his way up the ladder at Henry Malvern's shipping company. Young Falconer makes himself increasingly indispensable as the company experiences difficulties and the aging Malvern steps back from the helm. Malvern's daughter, Alexis, showcased as having quite the head for business and who seemed poised to head the company in the previous novel, is now portrayed as rusticating in the country. She is sunk in depression, mourning a lost love, and, as friends point out, she has "let herself go." It would be rhetorical to ask if she can rally, lose weight, and come out the other side of a makeover to resume her acquaintance with the handsome Falconer. The historical framework is decidedly shaky, but In the Lion's Den ticks all the boxes fans expect from Bradford's romantic sagas. Bradford's books continue to be prolific bestsellers; libraries will need to have her latest on hand to meet fan demand.
