"An extended family gathers in late August to celebrate the seventy-fifth birthday of its formidable matriarch, Leonora. She is the daugther of the famous Edwardian painter Ethan Walsh, whose paintings are kept at Willow Court, the stately family home in England. At Leonora's house party will be her daughters, Gwen and Rilla; Rilla's stepdaughter Beth; and Gwen's husband and three children with their assorted spouses and lovers. One outsider joins the group: Sean Everard, a television director who's making a documentary about the life and work of Ethan Walsh." "All families have their dark side, and Leonora's is no exception. By the time the party's over, two shocking events from the past have come to light that will change the lives of Leonora and her daughters forever."--BOOK JACKET.

Suzannah (known as Zannah) and Adrian are planning to marry in May, the loveliest time of year. Zannah has always wanted a beautiful, traditional wedding and feels she missed out the first time round when she married Cal, father of her daughter Isis.Now two families are to meet for the first time. Will the slightly bohemian Gratrixes from Cheshire and the wealthy Ashtons from the Home Counties like each other? The meeting will take place on neutral territory, at a lunch party in the home of Zannah's Great-aunt Charlotte in London - but no one anticipates the reaction when Zannah's mother and Adrian's stepfather first meet - and a series of events is set in motion with consequences no one expected...As the story unfolds, full of drama, conflict, revelations, reconciliations and romance, the two families plus several outsiders move forward towards the inevitable Big Day. Not everyone will get what they want. Not all marriages are made in heaven...