RATING: GOOD
SPOILERS!!!
All the characters in the novel have their sweet happy ending.
Let’s start with Imogen. Danny finally gets to her in Paris, and she is delighted. Yet, she feels she also needs to fight for her career. When she tells him that she thinks she still wants to go to New York, he gets upset. They have a row in their hotel in Venice, and from the things Imogen says, Danny realises that she still considers uncouth and a rebel.
Then Imogen goes to see Jack for the painting. In the parts in the past Adele and Jack have an affair… an all-consuming affair. She knows that what she is doing is wrong, but she is completely taken, and she loves Jack as she has never loved anyone. Jack feels the same but he blows hot and cold, so she doesn’t know where she stands. Then he tells her that he wants her portrait, and commissions it to a new painter. Adele goes to the artist’s studio and is shocked when he tells her that he only paints nudes. She first refuses to pose for him, but when she has a look around and sees his talent, she knows she wants him to paint her. When the painting is finished and Jack shows her, she is also surprised as the pose is different to the one she usually had when she was being painted. The woman in the painting shows the aftermath of a loving encounter. Jack tells her that this is her present, but Adele can’t take her home and show it around. So Jack agrees to keep it until she asks for it. This is the painting Imogen goes to pick up.
The affair between Adele and Jack ends when they go to their flat and find one of the girls at Simone’s there after she has slashed her wrists. Adele tries to stop the blood and calls an ambulance, and thankfully, Miranda survives. The girl tells her that she is miserable because she loves Jack. When Adele talks to Jack, he swears that he has never laid a finger on Miranda, but Adele can’t continue. When she returns home, she keeps busy with the art gallery, which is to open in a few weeks. Despite her best intentions, she sends an invitation to Jack, and he turns up with his wife in tow. Adele is too nervous having her two men in the same room. When Jack comes to her, he whispers that he misses her and asks her to meet him in Venice in spring. Once again Adele refuses, but when April comes, she tells William that she needs to see some art dealers, and travels to meet her lover. These are the most wonderful days Adele has lived, but when the last day approaches, she knows she can’t continue with this farce. So she bids goodbye to Jack, knowing this will be the last time she will see him. Back at home she looks gaunt and pale, and as William fusses over her, she sees something in his look that makes her think that he knows.
In Venice Imogen goes to see Jack, who is an old man, and when she sees the painting, she think that it is the most wonderful thing she has ever seen. What shocks her is to see her grandmother as the model, and she realises that Jack and Adele were lovers. Jack and Imogen have a conversation about love; he admits that he would never have made Adele happy as he was too selfish. Before she leaves, Jack tells him never to walk out on love, or she will regret it the rest of her days. So as she approaches her hotel, she knows what she wants. She wants Danny, so as soon as she is with him, she tells him that she wants to live with him. New York will have to wait as she plans to open her own gallery in London, and she will commute to be with him every night. That was a nice end for this couple.
The plot about Ray and Sylvie is quite straightforward. Ray proposes to her, and when tears appear in her eyes, he thinks she is going to refuse. Yet,she simply asks what it took him so long. So they spend a happy journey on the train and later in Venice. Nice resolution.
Emmie and Archie have their lovely moment. As Archie gets to know Emmie more and more, he realises that despite his initial misgivings about the dating competition, he is falling for her. When they are at the airport to take the plane back to England, Emmie mumbles she doesn’t want to return. So for the first time in his life Archie lets himself b carried out, and he tells her that they can stay because he wants to spend time with her and he wants her. Emmie is surprise and at first she gives all the reasons why she can’t stay, but in the end she finally says ‘OK’, and in the end they get together.
The ones who have more problems is Stephanie with her new family. During dinner on the Orient Express, Jamie tells his father that he and his band has been offered a tour around Europe and the tour starts in October, when he is supposed to take his place at Oxford University. Simon reacts angrily, saying that he can’t do that because he would be spoiling his life, but Jamie is adamant. Stephanie tries to mediate, but she is surprised by Simon’s inflexible attitude. Later she tries to talk to Simon, but he won’t come to his senses. Then Robert, the train steward, has told him that Jamie has asked for his passport as he intends to get off in Innsbruck and return home. Stephanie tries to persuade Simon to talk to his son, but he claims that there is nothing he can do as Jamie is eighteen. Actually, Simon thinks that all this about the tour is the making of his ex-wife, who tries everything to get back to him. Eventually, Jamie comes to his senses when his sister tells him that he is a fool as his band is not really good and he will be spoiling the chance of a good education. Stephanie also talks to him, and Jamie finally talks to his father and tells him that he has been wrong.
Another problem comes from Beth. A few weeks ago she went to see Jamie’s band, and the singer, Connor, invited her to his flat. She was quite drunk, and they slept together. The following day she realises that Connor has a girlfriend, and when she confronted him, the boy treated her despicably. Now six weeks after that, Beth fears that she is pregnant. When Stephanie finds her alone, the girl blurts out that she thinks she might be pregnant and asks her not to tell her father because Simon would force her to get rid of the baby, and she is adamant that she will keep it.
In Venice Stephanie buys the girl a pregnancy test, and they confirm that she is pregnant. Beth tells her that she will keep the baby, and once again she asks Stephanie not to tell Simon. Then Beth tells Stephanie that the reason why her parents divorced was not because of Tanya’s boyfriend, but because her mother had fallen pregnant and Simon had made have a termination. Beth is horrified and realises that she doesn’t want to be with someone who can be such a bully. The confrontation between Jamie and Simon on the Orient Express makes her thinks that Beth has told her the truth. In the hotel room Stephanie tells her that she doesn’t think their relationship is going to work and they should break up. Simon wants to know why she has that sudden change of heart, and she tells him about the abortion he made Tanya have. Simon explains that she knows that Tanya has been telling their children that lie, but the truth is that when Tanya got pregnant, he wanted that baby more than anything, but then Tanya had a termination behind his back. That was the last blow, and that is the reason why they divorced. I felt sorry for Simon as Stephanie was ready to believe he was such a horrible man. Stephanie also tells him about Beth’s pregnancy, and the man reacts with concern and he knows that his daughter will want to keep her baby. Stephanie then talks to Beth and tells her everything, and there is a lovely end with the four of them hugging. That scene really moved me.
So everybody had their happy ending, even Adele. At home she receives a letter from Jack asking her to meet him. WE know that he has been writing to her for years, but he never posted the letters, but she finally musters the courage to post this one. So when Adele gets his letter, she knows that he can’t go on with life without seeing him again, so the last lines of the book is Adele booking a ticket for Venice.
Lovely book. I really enjoyed it!!! I wish I could go on the Orient Express in the future!!!
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