Family reunion - Carol Smith

Odile Rochefort Annesley has been in self-imposed exile in France for forty years, following a familiy tragedy. When, with her eightieth birthday approaching, she contacts her scattered grandchildren to give them details of her will, her five quite different grand-daughters see it as an excellent reason for a family get-together. Solidly-married Clemency; ambitious London property dealer, Madeleine; Parisian dress-designer, Elodie; cautious Isabelle from Quebec who has inherited the family brains; and poor, deprived misfit, Cherie, with the oddly-developing child, meet and start to get acquainted as they plan a big surprise party. Each has grown up in a different world but all share the same characteristics as families do. The nose, the determination, the loyalty, the wit. Then there's Cousin Harry, the golden architect with secret problems and a make-believe marriage which may not be all it's cracked up to be. The boys are to share the money, the girls the rest, but high-living Harry needs it all and now, which is where the trouble really begins. As the five women's lives begin to merge, each has a secret she is trying not to share...