Newport: A Novel

by Jill Morrow Narrated by Johanna Parker

Overview

Following in the steps of Beatriz Williams and Amor Towles, this richly atmospheric, spellbinding novel transports readers to the dazzling, glamorous world of Newport during the Roaring Twenties and to a mansion filled with secrets as a debonair lawyer must separate truth from deception.

Spring 1921. The Great War is over, Prohibition is in full swing, the Depression still years away, and Newport, Rhode Island's glittering “summer cottages” are inhabited by the gloriously rich families who built them.

Attorney Adrian De la Noye is no stranger to Newport, having sheltered there during his misspent youth. Though he'd prefer to forget the place, he returns to revise the will of a well-heeled client. Bennett Chapman's offspring have the usual concerns about their father's much-younger fiancée. But when they learn of the old widower's firm belief that his first late wife, who “communicates” via séance, has chosen the beautiful Catherine Walsh for him, they're shocked. And for Adrian, encountering Catherine in the last place he saw her decades ago proves to be a far greater surprise.

Still, De la Noye is here to handle a will, and he fully intends to do so-just as soon as he unearths every last secret, otherworldly or not, about the Chapmans, Catherine Walsh . . . and his own very fraught history.

A skillful alchemy of social satire, dark humor, and finely drawn characters, Newport vividly brings to life the glitzy era of the 1920s.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Past and present collide in 1920s Rhode Island as long-buried secrets begin to come to light in this mesmerizing novel of love, loss, and redemption. Beautifully written and vividly detailed, Newport is an elegant and mysterious tale that will keep you entranced from beginning to end.” — Ashley Weaver, Edgar Nominated author of Murder at the Brightwell

“Newport has it all: intrigue, scandal, and séances to summon a spirit that will not rest. The slow unraveling of tangled secrets will keep you turning pages long into the night.” — Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author

“Jill Morrow’s NEWPORT is a portrait of a long-lost era, a sophisticated drama, and a gripping mystery all in one. Full of delicious prose and surprising twists, this book is a delight, an engrossing read that goes down like a glass of the finest champagne.” — Simone St. James, author of The Other Side of Midnight

“A delicious plunge into the gilded lives and mansions of another era, NEWPORT sends you swimming through an intricate mystery involving money, tragedy, bittersweet love affairs, and voices from beyond, until you arrive at the whirlwind ending. It’s everything you need for literary escape: a ripping good read.” — Beatriz Williams, New York Times bestselling author of A Hundred Summers

Simone St. James

Jill Morrow’s NEWPORT is a portrait of a long-lost era, a sophisticated drama, and a gripping mystery all in one. Full of delicious prose and surprising twists, this book is a delight, an engrossing read that goes down like a glass of the finest champagne.

Beatriz Williams

A delicious plunge into the gilded lives and mansions of another era, NEWPORT sends you swimming through an intricate mystery involving money, tragedy, bittersweet love affairs, and voices from beyond, until you arrive at the whirlwind ending. It’s everything you need for literary escape: a ripping good read.

Ashley Weaver

Past and present collide in 1920s Rhode Island as long-buried secrets begin to come to light in this mesmerizing novel of love, loss, and redemption. Beautifully written and vividly detailed, Newport is an elegant and mysterious tale that will keep you entranced from beginning to end.

Deanna Raybourn

Newport has it all: intrigue, scandal, and séances to summon a spirit that will not rest. The slow unraveling of tangled secrets will keep you turning pages long into the night.

JULY 2015 - AudioFile

Narrator Johanna Parker provides mildly discernible voices for the characters of this novel, despite their stereotypical affluence and greed in wealthy 1920s Rhode Island. She presents a straight reading of protagonist Adrian De la Noye, a successful attorney who arrives at his prosperous client’s Newport mansion to modify his will. The client’s adult children, who insist that the document should not be changed to favor their father’s young new wife, are rendered with more color. The whiny daughter’s pitch hints at drunkenness, and the angry son’s tone demonstrates his bent for violence. Parker does best with the self-possessed voice of Catherine, the stunning fiancée who turns out to be the lawyer’s former lover. During séances, the deceased wife sounds more imperious than ethereal. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173752352
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/07/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos