40 Love

40 Love

Madeleine Wickham

Patrick Chance has the perfect setting for a tennis party—the White House. Bought out of his bonuses as an investment salesman, it is complete with stable, bar, jacuzzi, shell-shaped bedheads, and, of course, the tennis court. But what is the real reason for the party? His brash and beautiful wife, Caroline, hides her suspicions in a cloud of Pimm’s-induced laughter. She’s happy to welcome Stephen and Annie, their impoverished former neighbors, less happy to see newly wealthy Charles and his aristocratic wife, Cressida, and barely able to tolerate the deadly competitive Don and Valerie. As the first ball is served over the net, it signals the start of two days of tempers, shocks, revelations, the arrival of an uninvited guest—and the realization that the weekend is about anything but tennis.

MADELEINE WICKHAM is the New York Times bestselling author of several acclaimed novels, including A Desirable Residence, The Wedding Girl, Sleeping Arrangements, The Gatecrasher, Cocktails for Three, and Swimming Pool Sunday. As Sophie Kinsella, she has written the bestselling Shopaholic series and The Undomestic Goddess. She lives in London.