The Invitation

Sometimes the ties that bind are the most dangerous of all ...

Paris, 1899. Emma Lacasse has been estranged from her older sister for nearly twenty years, since Caroline married a wealthy American and left France. So when Caroline invites Emma to help prepare her shy, young niece for her society debut, Emma is intrigued.

Caroline lives a life of unimaginable excess and opulence as one of New York's Gilded Age ultra rich and Emma is soon immersed in a world of luxury beyond her wildest dreams - a far cry from her bohemian lifestyle as a harpist and writer with her lover, Claude, in Montmartre.

Emma hopes for an emotional reunion with her only family, but instead she finds herself in the vice-like grip of her charismatic and manipulative sister. As Emma begins to question Caroline's true motives, a disaster strikes, and New York society is stripped bare - beneath the glittering exterior lies a seething nest of deceit, betrayal, moral corruption ... and perhaps even murder.

From the bestselling author of Tuscan Rose comes a mesmerising tale of two sisters and the dangers and seductions of excess.