Background
Mendes was born in Buckinghamshire, located in South East England in October 1939.
(In the tradition of THE FORSYTE SAGA, a sweeping historic...)
In the tradition of THE FORSYTE SAGA, a sweeping historical novel that spans three generations, telling the dark secrets of a family torn apart. Larkswood House. The very name suggests birdsong, peace and elegance. It is home to the Hamilton children - Edward, Cynthia and Harriet - who enjoy the freedom and excitement of privilege. But in the glorious summer of 1896, with absent parents and a departed governess, disaster strikes the family, leaving it cruelly divided. More than 40 years later, on the eve of the Second World War, Louisa Hamilton, newly presented at court but struck down with glandular fever, is sent to Larkswood to recuperate. There, for the first time, she meets her grandfather, Edward, home after decades in India. But as Louisa begins to fall under the spell of Larkswood, she realises it holds the key to the mystery that shattered her family two generations before. Will she find the courage to unravel the dark secrets of the past? And can Larkswood ever become home to happiness again?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/140912939X/?tag=2022091-20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017S2A3ZY/?tag=2022091-20
Mendes was born in Buckinghamshire, located in South East England in October 1939.
She attended North London Collegiate School and the University of Reading.
Mendes is best known for her teenage fiction novels, Girl in the Attic and Lost and Foundation. She was brought up as a Jew. Her son Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, is a well-known director and producer.
The stories.
New Year Cat and The Best Guy in Albert Street were both published by Puffin Post. Mendes then moved to writing picture books, and published two. Tomasina"s First Dance in November 1992 and Look at Maine, Grandma! in January 2001.
Tomasina"s First Dance was illustrated by Heather Calder.
Look at me, Grandma! was illustrated by Claire Fletcher. The picture book was praised for the repetitive nature of the writing, however some allusions were deemed too vague for a recommended age group of three to seven.
After Girl in the Attic, Mendes then published three more teenage novels. Coming of Age, was published in June 2004, Lost and Foundation in June 2004, and The Drowning, published in August 2005.
In 2014, she published her first historical fiction novel Larkswood at seventy four years old.
(In the tradition of THE FORSYTE SAGA, a sweeping historic...)
