The Audrey Hepburn Estate

November 1, 2022

In perennial New York Times best-selling Deveraux's My Heart Will Find You, a young woman stranded in Kansas City by the pandemic agrees to serve as caretaker for an isolated older man and finds a book in his library that leads to vibrant dreams of a life and love in the 1870s that could be real (125,000-copy first printing). Gray's Life and Other Love Songs, which tracks a Black family from the Great Migration to 1990s New York, opens with Ozro Armstead taking a walk on his 37th birthday when he inexplicably vanishes; following the LibraryReads pick The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls (60,000-copy first printing). Henry features the couple Harriet and Wyn, who aren't in a Happy Place; they have reluctantly broken up but agree to the pretense that they are still together for their annual getaway with best friends (750,000-copy first printing). Caterer Emma Jansen returns to the bulldozer-ready Long Island estate where she grew up as the estate manager's daughter and encounters both the family's grandson, whom she loved, and chauffeur's son Leo, her best buddy; just like Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, hence Janowitz's title, The Audrey Hepburn Estate (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). Beloved author McCall Smith set out to solve The Enigma of Garlic as he revisits the residents of 44 Scotland Street, Edinburgh, with shenanigans set off by excitement over Big Lou and Fat Bob's wedding. Novak convenes three friends at The Seaside Library 20 years after a tragedy altered their lives--but not, it seems, their rediscovered commitment to one another (100,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). Susan Patterson (Big Words for Little Geniuses) and lyricist/librettist DiLallo are joined by mega-best-selling James Patterson with Things I Wish I Told My Mother, the story of a mother and daughter opening up to each other on a Paris vacation (150,000-copy first printing). Celebrated Southern author Smith returns with Silver Alert, featuring a curmudgeonly older man who refuses to let his life dim, instead setting off on a last glorious journey up the Florida Keys with a younger friend bearing secrets of her own (40,000-copy first printing). After the beloved best sellers Kitchens of the Great Midwest and The Lager Queen of Minnesota, Stradal stays Midwestern culinary with Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, featuring husband-and-wife Ned and Mariel Praeger and the crises they face regarding the Minnesota family restaurant businesses each has inherited (100,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2023
A chef tries to save her childhood home and juggles the affections of two men from her past in this updated take on the Audrey Hepburn film Sabrina. Emma Jansen owns a successful catering business that serves some of the most exclusive parties in New York, but she can't escape the pull of her childhood home in Glen Cove. It wasn't exactly her home--her parents were the hired help, and Emma lived with them in an apartment above the garage. The Audrey Hepburn Estate (so named because it shares an address with the house in the film Sabrina) was the site of some of her most cherished memories--and some of her most painful ones. She was desperately in love with Henry van der Wraak, the grandson of the estate's owners. She also formed a deep friendship with Leo L'Unico, the son of the van der Wraaks' driver. Now, years later, Leo is a developer intent on demolishing the estate so he can build a luxury apartment complex. Emma reconnects with Henry in her attempt to save the house from destruction, but excavating her past brings buried secrets to the surface. She still has complicated feelings for both Henry and Leo, but managing the affections of two men is far from her only problem. Emma also discovers some secrets about the estate that call into question everything she's ever believed about her own family. Janowitz weaves in details about Audrey Hepburn's films and also the actor's real life, including her childhood in Holland during World War II. Although the chemistry between Emma and her two love interests never quite ignites, Emma's journey to let go of her past and solve the mystery of the estate is full of interesting historical details. Janowitz includes a fascinating author's note that explains Hepburn's struggle during the war as well as the many easter eggs that appear in the text. A nostalgic and intriguing story that blends a modern-day love triangle with details from Audrey Hepburn's life.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 17, 2023
Emma Jansen grew up living above the garage of a grand estate on Long Island. She was raised alongside two young men, the owners' grandson, Henry, and the chauffeur's son, Leo. As an adult living in Manhattan, Emma wants desperately to prevent Leo, now a successful developer, from tearing down the abandoned house where she spent her early years. In the process of trying to stop the demolition, she is reunited not only with Leo but also with Henry. Both men still hold special places in her heart, and she in theirs. She must also face some harsher realities about her past and the truths kept from her by those she loved most. Inspired by the film Sabrina and Audrey Hepburn's past as a part of the Dutch Resistance, Janowitz's latest is a tale of love, betrayal, and secrets. Emma will have to decide whether home is a place or a feeling. Romantic, sweeping, and emotional.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2023

Emma Jansen is returning to Rolling Hill, the estate where she grew up as the daughter of the live-in maid Mila, and butler Hans. Leo, the son of another Rolling Hill employee, is now a property developer and has bought the falling-down estate, intending to turn it into an upscale development. Emma is distressed to learn that Rolling Hill's mansion is set to be demolished, as she loved growing up there with Leo and Henry, the grandson of the estate's original owners, the renowned art-dealing the Van Der Wraaks. She connects with a local historical society that is looking to save the estate. This forces Emma to reconnect with her past, including Fleur, the estate's cook, who might have been killed by Felix Van der Wraak, Henry's grandfather. She also realizes that Van Der Wraak may have been a former Nazi trying to cover his tracks, Leo and Emma having discovered Nazi relics in the house as teenagers. Yet the novel's actual Nazis, and Nazi hunters, might not be who Emma thought. VERDICT Janowitz's (The Grace Kelly Dress) crisply written novel, inspired by the Audrey Hepburn film Sabrina, provides swift twists and turns. The author also ties in neat historical details about Hepburn's life, making this a fun read for those who like historical fiction.--Jennie Mills

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.