Family Ties

When Simon Crome and his half-brother, Daniel Lygon, set up a publishing firm, they work as hard as possible to ensure its success…

Of course, it helps that Simon’s wealthy father-in-law, Sir Harry Matlock is keen to support their venture.

Except that Sir Harry’s generosity towards Simon and his wife Christian embarrasses and frustrates Simon, who is anxious to bring up his family and keep his wife in the way he can afford.

Even more frustrating is the fact that Harry dictates the tone of books Simon publishes.

Eager to propel the business further, Simon agrees to take on a highly controversial book, much to Sir Harry’s disapproval.

But Simon is willing to fight for the book and it’s not long before his state of affairs turn ugly…

To add further scandal, Daniel and his wife, Eliza, are seeking a divorce.

With Eliza’s infidelity, and Daniel eager for pleasures beyond the marital home, the scandal of divorce overshadows the pressures of the publishing firm.

Meanwhile, Daniel finds himself falling in love with Christian’s sister, Lydia. But does he love her as much as he thinks and do they really stand a chance?

Clandestine meetings and nights snatched here and there is not the way Lydia wants to spend the rest of her life and it seems Lydia cannot break Eliza’s hold over Daniel.

As Simon and Christian’s lives take them through a rollercoaster of stress and emotional heartbreak, and with the negative publicity hanging over Simon’s head, will their love stand the toughest test a family faces?

Family Ties is a dramatic literary tale that explores the bonds of family and how far you have to go to truly break them.

Praise for Marguerite Steen

‘Miss Steen is a superb manipulator of scene, and she makes her places as alive as her people’ - Daily Telegraph

‘Rich and enjoyable’ - The Observer

‘fine scenes and piquant portraits’ - The Sunday Times

‘a vivid narrative’ - Manchester Guardian

‘full of colour and character’ - John o' London's Weekly

‘rich, lavish, violent, passionate’ -Evening News

Marguerite Steen (12 May 1894 – 4 August 1975) was a British writer. Very much at home among creative people, she wrote biographies of the Terrys, of her friend Hugh Walpole, of the 18th century poet and actress (and sometime mistress to the Prince of Wales) Mary 'Perdita' Robinson, and of her own lover, the artist Sir William Nicholson. Her first major success was Matador,for which she drew on her love of Spain, and of bullfighting. Also a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic was her massive saga of the slave-trade and Bristol shipping, The Sun Is My Undoing. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1951.