Kindle
$11.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$19.22
Paperback
$12.80
Buy new:
-36% $12.80
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$12.80 with 36 percent savings
List Price: $19.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 3 hrs 5 mins
Only 5 left in stock - order soon.
$$12.80 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.80
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$5.73
FREE delivery May 20 - 21. Details
Only 3 left in stock - order soon.
$$12.80 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.80
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by Orion LLC.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Lauren Willig
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Ashford Affair: A Novel Paperback – March 25, 2014

by Lauren Willig (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 2,087 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$12.80","priceAmount":12.80,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"12","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"80","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"VQpagsqKVE7sIujRB6HfUjYjJdP2d4qUQNSY1bmUzKGx%2BMi9m6k6IGZfFZoGmpT%2BCALf9d9oOEeQ3VaFoDPQ8oU%2Fliug4LNFnCaCl8k45W4abIiGi7eB4Q5pKYeXZ5j0MSeHgS0fa6G7mG%2FRIWJiRA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$5.73","priceAmount":5.73,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"5","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"73","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"VQpagsqKVE7sIujRB6HfUjYjJdP2d4qUwdMXkeYwaqq%2FeiNsE%2BR2mzj%2B%2FHAbgo7uA2%2BEKJjvxpdoyFL%2F3mG95taiTVMhmZF%2FB91BMS%2FM629I9yI7NiZqIBJO1cmEtp8B45mbgDyspbZQ3Ju%2BrjX5H6uJ1iOm%2FPG8EKPFCXtmhbUuXQkjxiAJm5ar1Cs6TWKW","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig comes The Ashford Affair, a page-turning novel about two women in different eras, and on different continents, who are connected by one deeply buried secret.

A New York Times best seller!

As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, just shy of making partner, Clementine Evans has finally achieved almost everything she's been working towards―but now she's not sure it's enough. Her long hours have led to a broken engagement and, suddenly single at thirty-four, she feels her messy life crumbling around her. But when the family gathers for her grandmother Addie's ninety-ninth birthday, a relative lets slip hints about a long-buried family secret, leading Clemmie on a journey into the past that could change everything. . . .

Growing up at Ashford Park in the early twentieth century, Addie has never quite belonged. When her parents passed away, she was taken into the grand English house by her aristocratic aunt and uncle, and raised side-by-side with her beautiful and outgoing cousin, Bea. Though they are as different as night and day, Addie and Bea are closer than sisters, through relationships and challenges, and a war that changes the face of Europe irrevocably. But what happens when something finally comes along that can't be shared? When the love of sisterhood is tested by a bond that's even stronger?

From the inner circles of British society to the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the red-dirt hills of Kenya, the never-told secrets of a woman and a family unfurl.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    St. Martin's Griffin
  4. Publication date
    March 25, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    6.14 x 0.82 x 9.21 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9781250027863
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1250027863
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

The Ashford Affair: A Novel
$12.80
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
Only 5 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Summer Country: A Novel
$16.99
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Other Daughter: A Novel
$15.99
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Ashford Affair is a reader's treat, an artfully-woven saga that sweeps us into the lives of three generations of a family entangled in life-changing secrets. Lauren Willig spins a web of lust, power and loss, taking us from England to Kenya to New York, from World War I to today's modern world, posing a timeless question: what in our own family stories might surprise or shock – or change our lives – if we had access to the whispers from the past?” ―Kate Alcott, New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker

“There are few authors who make you want to take a day off from life to devour their latest book, but Lauren Willig is one of them. The Ashford Affair is absolutely impossible to put down!” ―Michelle Moran, bestselling author of Madame Tussaud

“Rich with detail and historical imagination, The Ashford Affair evokes the lives and passions of the interwar era with harrowing precision. The enthralling mystery kept me up late into the night, and the characters will remain with me forever. Lauren Willig has delivered a stunning masterpiece.” ―Beatriz Williams, author of Overseas

“With The Ashford Affair, Lauren Willig crafts a lavishly detailed saga readers will devour.” ―Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Enquiry

About the Author

LAUREN WILLIG is the author of the New York Times bestselling Pink Carnation series and a RITA Award-winner for Best Regency Historical for The Mischief of Mistletoe. She graduated from Yale University, and has a graduate degree in English history from Harvard and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She lives in New York City, where she now writes full time.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1250027861
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Griffin (March 25, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781250027863
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250027863
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.82 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 2,087 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Lauren Willig

Lauren Willig

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Pink Carnation series and several stand alone works of historical fiction, including "The Ashford Affair", "That Summer", "The Other Daughter", and "The Forgotten Room" (co-written with Karen White and Beatriz Williams). Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages, awarded the RITA, Booksellers Best and Golden Leaf awards, and chosen for the American Library Association's annual list of the best genre fiction. After graduating from Yale University, she embarked on a PhD in English History at Harvard before leaving academia to acquire a JD at Harvard Law while authoring her "Pink Carnation" series of Napoleonic-set novels. She lives in New York City, where she now writes full time.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
2,087 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Ashford is Awesome
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2013
Verified Purchase
review originally published on my blog at [...]

The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig

Publisher/Year: St. Martin’s Press 2013

Series: No

Other Books from Author: The Pink Carnation Series, Double L

Where I Got the Book: Pre-Ordered it on Amazon

Author Website: [...]

Summary

Clementine “Clemmie” Evans is a New York lawyer so close to making partner at her firm that she can taste it. Exhausted by the long hours that led to a broken engagement and her life crumbling into a mess at her feet, suddenly everything she thought she wanted seems like it might not be enough. As her family gathers for her grandma Addie’s 99th birthday a family secret slips out and Clemmie finds herself on a quest to find the truth about her family history. Spanning generations from World War I era Britain to 1920s Kenya to present day Manhattan, secrets surrounding family, relationships and challenges that cannot be shared unfurl at a furious pace.
My Thoughts

I have to start with a disclaimer: I love Lauren Willig’s writing and would gladly read her transcription of the phone book because I believe it would be that awesome. I went into Ashford fully expecting to be wow-ed, and I was not disappointed. I could fully relate to Clemmie as a young woman in the development phases of my career, working toward a higher position and trying to juggle work and a personal life. She has spunk and determination, but you could feel her exhaustion through the page as her life and everything she thought she knew seemed to crumble and a “tantalizing genealogical conundrum” presents itself. ( I can’t take credit for that beautiful phrase– it was in another review of Ashford.)

The time-slip format worked beautifully for this book and I remained riveted as the action shifted between the story of young grandma Addie and her cousin Bea growing up together in WWI era British society and Clemmie’s trail of discovery about these two women. All of the characters are beautifully developed and leap off the page into life. There were a few moments where it seemed hard to reconcile the Addie of the past with the portrait painted of grandma Addie in the present day, but not hard enough that it was unbelievable given the life she lived.

I absolutely felt emotionally connected to the story and its outcome, which came far too quickly. I wanted the book to just keep going and going.

Also, for Pink fans, keep your eye out for a descendent of of our favorite sarcastic ennui, Sebastian, Lord Vaughn.
The Verdict

I absolutely loved it. Another one hit out of the park by Lauren Willing. This was the first of her non-Pink books I had read, but it was just as engaging and fascinating. It combines wit with passion and mystery to create a fast paced adventure for any historical fiction lover.

If you liked Ashford Affair, be sure to check out Deanna Raybourn’s Spear of Summer Grass, which also takes place in 1920s Kenya. It’s on my TBR list and downloaded onto my Kindle, so expect a review sometime in the not too distant future.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Camille Di Maio
4.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous read for fans of Kate Morton and Lucinda Riley
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2014
Verified Purchase
London, Kenya, New York. It has all the makings of a great novel. And, it delivers.

I would not have found “The Ashford Affair” were it not for websites that recommend books based on your other likes. I am a HUGE fan of Kate Morton and Beatriz Williams, so when multiple people compared Lauren Willig to them, I had to look further. Her other offerings are part of a series with floral names. Being a fan neither of flowers or series, I lost hope until I came upon what is admittedly a departure for her. I hope that she will continue in this genre more.

Alternating between the 1920s and 1999, Clementine Evans struggles with guilt over her grandmother’s failing health, a broken relationship, and the stress of trying to make partner at her law firm. Enter a long-lost love who is on the same quest she is – to piece together a history that hints that her family is not everything she has always been told it is. Decades earlier, debutant Bea and her orphaned cousin Addie compete for the affections of Frederick, leading to a face-off on his coffee plantation in Kenya. The disappearance of one and the subsequent murder investigation have repercussions that will affect the generations of their families well in to the turn of the millennium.

Willig seamlessly weaves the time periods together, making parallels in their events that keep the momentum alive throughout the book. She also includes copies literary references, and I have to give her major props for mentioning Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester instead of the over-used Mr. Darcy with whom so many other people seem besotted.

My only critique is that there were several places where the coincidences that occurred were unrealistic and the story line could have flowed without them. They distracted my reading with a “Yeah, right”, and in a lesser book, they would have weakened the credibility of the whole thing. But, in the hands of a master storyteller like Willig, they are mere blips.

Ms. Willig’s next work of historical fiction is pre-Raphaelite, so I will look forward to reading that one as soon as my ever-growing stack of books-to-read has just grown again thanks to Christmas morning and relatives who know how to feed my addiction to words on pages.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
roamingsoutherner
5.0 out of 5 stars A great but heartwrenching tale
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2013
Verified Purchase
I am an avid Pink Carnation series fan! I was nervous about this new book and if it would live up to the Pink Carnation, IT DID! It was expansive and compelling and I could not put it down! The interwoven tales from Africa 1926 and New York 1999 was expertly done and even more wonderful than the Pink Carnation.

This is very different than Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series:

CHARACTERS ARE REAL:
All of the characters are flawed, and at times, the ones you like start to tarnish. It is not a good-guys are good and bad guys are bad tales that really mark Willig's spy series. It makes for a harder read, but for a more realistic character.

NOT A LIGHT, HAPPY TALE:
However, it is a sad book(which was why iI wish I could have given it a 4.5 star)...with a happy-ish ending that really shows that life and all of it's circumstances is not easy. Dealing with that post-WWI era of how society and people handle this new world, is not as a pretty and glamorous as the roaring 20's look. It is not a fairy tale, and Willig had many chances (and kind of thumbed her nose) at the chick-lit cliches where everything could end so neatly and effortlessly.

NOT A MYSTERY/CAPER:
While this is not a mystery, spy story that marks the Pink Carnation series, the book has a "what happened/how did they end up this way?" plot that is gives us Willig's trademark page-turner, compelling style.

This was not the book I expected, but it is one that I will pick up again and read when I need to escape into someone else's drama.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Plentynine
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great read
Reviewed in Canada on March 26, 2022
Verified Purchase
Another great read by Lauren Willig with great character building and an interesting story line.
Report
Keenreader
5.0 out of 5 stars Cleverly written
Reviewed in Australia on September 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
Unputdownable. Surprising ending.
Report
M. F. Holzner
4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for lovers of complicated family dramas
Reviewed in Germany on September 3, 2015
Verified Purchase
Cousins growing up together, one beautiful, privileged and sparkling, the other one a tolerated addendum to the family, and how their lives stay connected through completely unexpected twists and turns - a perfect summer read. Their grandchildren stay a bit lifeless and pale, though, which is why it's only 4 stars from me.
Report
J. Simpson
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2013
Verified Purchase
A change from this writer's usual subject but if you like her series of books about the pink carnation, you will enjoy this too. Highly recommended.
Report
Concepción Coll Gutiérrez
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy bueno
Reviewed in Spain on September 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
Muy bueno y altamente entretenido. Refleja adecuadamente el estilo de vida d la alta sociedad inglesa de una época y mantiene la incógnita hasta el final.
Report