About the Author

EVA RICE is a writer and young mother living in London.

Reviews

"Wow! P. G. Wodehouse has been reborn as a woman! Eva Rice has the master’s gift for language and satire, and a pathos that’s all her own. The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is one of those books you read guiltily, because it is so much fun, but then realize there is zero need for guilt—it’s that good."—Sean Wilsey, author of Oh the Glory of It All

"As stylish, rich, and skillfully tailored as a gorgeous 1950s vintage coat . . . . With its quirky characters and lush English settings, it made me long to have lived in the London Eva Rice has evoked."—Kate Harrison, author of The Starter Marriage

"Rice’s remarkable gift for creating singular characters in this memorable story underscores her presence as a fresh new voice in fiction."—Publishers Weekly

An impulsive taxi ride with a stranger in 1950s London indelibly changes Penelope Wallace's life in Rice's sparkling debut. At 18, Penelope lives with her younger brother, Inigo, and her terribly glamorous, young widowed mother in a drafty, rundown, English estate house in the countryside. With the loss of the man of the house, financial pressures mount, threatening sheltered Penelope's family manse-and what's left of her family's place in society. She finds a kindred spirit in the outspoken posh Londoner, Charlotte Ferris, who has a "great gift for circumnavigating normal behavior," when they both reveal their passion for American singing sensation Johnnie Ray. After agreeing to accompany Charlotte's aspiring magician cousin, Harry Delancy, to his former girlfriend's engagement party to make her jealous, Penelope begins her journey through a world of smart parties, fashionable teas and simmering romance. With ?lan and insight into human foibles (and postwar Anglo-British relations), Rice, daughter of lyricist Tim Rice, ties the Wallace and Delancy families together with a surprising, bittersweet plot twist. Rice's remarkable gift for creating singular characters in this memorable story underscores her presence as a fresh new voice in fiction. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

London in the 1950s comes to life in this debut novel of historical chick lit in the tradition of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. The focus of the story is Penelope, a reserved 18-year-old whose life is never the same after she meets the vivacious Charlotte. Also shaping Penelope's life is the ancestral home where she lives with her stunningly beautiful mother and Elvis-obsessed brother. The family can't afford to repair the huge home, which is itself a work of art, but they can't leave it either because it belonged to the family of Penelope's father, who died in the war. Penelope is distracted from the trouble at home when she gets involved with a plan by Charlotte's brother Harry to win back the rich girl with whom he's in love. Alas, once the plan succeeds, Penelope realizes she's in love with Harry. Though the novel initially drags a bit, it quickly becomes hard to put down as the reader becomes lost in the vivid depiction of 1950s London and Penelope's romantic world, where a chance meeting can change your life forever. [Rice is the daughter of lyricist Jim Rice (Evita).-Ed.]-Karen Core, Detroit P.L. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

"Wow! P. G. Wodehouse has been reborn as a woman! Eva Rice has the master's gift for language and satire, and a pathos that's all her own. The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is one of those books you read guiltily, because it is so much fun, but then realize there is zero need for guilt-it's that good."-Sean Wilsey, author of Oh the Glory of It All

"As stylish, rich, and skillfully tailored as a gorgeous 1950s vintage coat . . . . With its quirky characters and lush English settings, it made me long to have lived in the London Eva Rice has evoked."-Kate Harrison, author of The Starter Marriage

"Rice's remarkable gift for creating singular characters in this memorable story underscores her presence as a fresh new voice in fiction."-Publishers Weekly