Maggie Alderson Libri

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'Some of my best friends are homosexuals. I just didn't expect my husband to be one too.' A year after Antonia and Hugh move to Australia with their 4 year old son Tom, everything is going terribly well. They have a lovely house, they're very popular - and then Hugh tells Antonia he is gay and has a boyfriend...It's only the arrival of Ant's outrageous lavender-haired uncle Percy that lifts her out of her depression and sends her off to the gym - to combat the lardy thighs her comfort eating has given her - where she meets the mysterious James, and falls head over heels in lust. Soon Ant finds she's over Hugo - but by then her problems are only just beginning...

Katie Ellison is not a liar. But she can't exactly tell the truth, either--not when she's juggling two boyfriends, secretly hating the high school football team everyone else worships, and trying to have the best summer ever. At least Katie has it all under control (sort of). Her biggest secret, what really happened the night Tommy Sullivan is a freak was spray-painted on the junior high gymnasium wall, is safe.That is, until Tommy comes back to town. Katie is sure he's going to ruin all her plans, and she'll do anything to hang on to her perfect existence. Even if it means telling more lies. Even if, now that Tommy's around, she's actually--truthfully--having the time of her life.

Stella Fain has a rule for men she likes: make them wait ... But the gorgeous Jay proves an exception to the rule when he bowls Stella off her Prada wedges at a press junket on the Cote d'Azur. He might seem to have everything going for him, but Stella is about to realize that there's only thing worse than having a boyfriend with no money ... and that's having one with too much. Jetset lifestyles can be fabulous, but Stella's career as a journalist isn't something she wants to jeopardize for any man, no matter how filthy rich or gorgeous. And then there's her father - a six-times-married prime slice of Alpha Male with a grudge against inherited wealth ... and Jay. There's no denying money makes the world go round and diamonds are a girl's best friend, but they don't make the path to love any easier to tread. With or without the Prada wedges.

With a witty and biting insider's take on the fashion world, the crazy circuit of the New York-London-Milan-Paris designer shows, and the most humbling of all experiences--love, Alderson delivers a poignant, funny novel of success and revenge, friendship and flirtation, passion and Prada.

Recently divorced Rachel is juggling her new dream job in interior-design PR with the demands of two young daughters. She's full of creative ideas but - even with a colorful childminder or two - some days she can't make it into the office on time and in matching shoes. Sister Tessa, a talented muralist, is feeling flat. Her kids are growing up and she's feeling upstaged by her husband with his new home-restoration TV show. Youngest sister Natasha leads a glamorous jet setting life - she's one of Vogue's favourite make up artists. Single and Childless, she's been focused on her career but when the lie she's concealed for years threatens to come to light, if forces painful choices. Meanwhile their mother, Joy a hippy vegetarian caterer, is carefully ignoring the letters that keep arriving at her door. Into the mix comes Simon, Rachel's urbane boss, hiding secrets of his own. And everything lurking beneath the surface of this seemingly happy family is about to come out. -- Publisher.

Perfume blogger Polly is in crisis. Will her husband's absence break her ... or make her? A novel of perfumes, exploring life, love, loss and forgiveness - Maggie Alderson's new bestseller. Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months? Polly's life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother - still modelling at eighty-five - is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes. As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going - Shirlee, the loudmouthed yoga student; Guy, the mysterious, infuriating and hugely talented perfumer; and Edward, an old flame from university. And while she distracts herself with the heady world of luxury perfume, Polly knows she can't keep reality at bay forever. Eventually she is forced to confront some difficult truths: about her husband, herself and who she really wants to be.

All the pieces in this book originally appeared as the author's column in Good Weekend magazine.Is it OK to wear a bikini after forty? What about peacock-blue toenail polish with bright-white hair and a faceful of slap? If you don't bother with make-up, bosom upholstery and foot facials are you letting yourself go, or just letting go? Just what are the rules for older women, and who on earth makes them? With her trademark wit and insight, much-loved novelist and journalist Maggie Alderson takes an honest look at ageing and asks the hard questions, such as who invented the 'natural-look' nipple concealer, and why? She tackles issues of gravity - the knees like fallen souffles, the ruched mummy tummy - and offers sage advice on what to do if you find yourself in a yoga class with a supermodel. She bemoans the passing of youth, but revels in the opportunities that age offers to be clearer, smarter, wiser and bossier (in the best possible way). If you've had it up to here with being told it's all downhill after forty, this is the book for you.