Book Review: The Debutante by Kathleen Tessaro

The latched clicked.
The locked door swung open.
Cate blinked, blinded by the brightness.
It was large square room with high ceilings and a wall of french windows leading to a balcony overlooking the rose garden. All around the room, the most delicate plasterwork and cornicing shone, covered in gilt; bright gold garlands twining against creamy white walls. the effect was dazzling.

Cate (aka Katie)  is trying to run away from New York and her past. When her aunt Rachel offers her a job as an assistant to help auction catalog a deceased estate's assets at Endsleigh, a Manor in the English countryside, she jumps the chance to getaway; but when Cate lockpicks a forgotten gilded room that had been hidden for over a generation and stumbles upon a shoebox filled with secrets, she becomes obsessed with the Blythe sisters and in particular popular socialite Diana "Baby" Blythe who disappeared under mysterious circumstances...

Cate untied the frayed silk ribbon and lifted the lid. Wrapped between layers of crumpled newspaper was a pair of delicate silver dancing shoes.

Following the clues Cate finds within the shoebox she pieces together the events that happened over 60 years ago. With Cate is Jack, tall, dark & handsome who also works for Rachel but a man also tortured by his past. Against his better judgment Jack feels himself drawn to the enigma that is Cate but can he truly move on from past events enough to grasp a hopeful future within his reach?

Nothing is as it seems in this book. Although you might think that you have it all figured out, it will surprise you again and again. A good historical fiction mystery read that includes real facts & also explores the past of the main characters as well as the mysterious Blythe sisters.

Can the secrets of one woman's past change another woman's future?