The Lost Art of Letter Writing
Page 25
By Menna van Praag
The House at the End of Hope Street
The Dress Shop of Dreams
The Witches of Cambridge
The Lost Art of Letter Writing
ALSO BY MENNA VAN PRAAG
When tragedy strikes Alba Ashby, she finds herself at the door of a house she’s never noticed before. Number Eleven, Hope Street in Cambridge is no ordinary house. Its walls are steeped in the wisdom of past residents: Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Parker and Agatha Christie to name a few. Alba accepts an invitation to stay, offered to her under the condition she has ninety-nine nights, and no more, to turn her life around.
Guided by the energy of the house, where portraits come alive, bookcases refill themselves and hot chocolate has healing properties, the enchanting experience Alba and her new friends share will change their lives for ever.
Scientist Cora Sparks spends her days in the safety of her university lab or at her grandmother Etta’s dress shop. Tucked away on a winding Cambridge street, Etta’s store appears quite ordinary to passers-by, but the colourfully vibrant racks of beaded silks and jewel-toned velvets hold bewitching secrets: with just a few stitches from Etta’s needle, these gorgeous gowns have the power to free a woman’s deepest desires.
Cora’s studious, unromantic eye has overlooked Walt, the shy bookseller who has been in love with her forever. Determined not to allow Cora to miss her chance at happiness, Etta sews a tiny stitch into Walt’s collar, hoping to give him the courage to confess his feelings to Cora. But magic spells – like true love – can go awry …
Amandine Bisset has always had the power to feel the emotions of those around her. It’s a secret she can share only with her friends – all professors, all witches – when they gather for meetings on the college rooftops. Although lately she senses the ties among her colleagues beginning to unravel. If only she had her student Noa’s power to hear the innermost thoughts of others, she might know how to patch things up.
Mathematics professor Kat is struggling with unrequited love, but refuses to cast spells to win anyone’s heart. Kat’s sister, Cosima, is not above using magic to get what she wants, sprinkling pastries in her bakery with equal parts sugar and enchantment. But when Cosima sets her sights on Kat’s crush, she sets off a chain of events that turns each of the witches’ worlds upside down …
To discover more great books and to
place an order visit our website at
allisonandbusby.com
Don’t forget to sign up to our free newsletter at allisonandbusby.com/newsletter
for latest releases, events and exclusive offers
Allison & Busby Books
@AllisonandBusby
You can also call us on
020 7580 1080
for orders, queries
and reading recommendations
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
12 Fitzroy Mews
London W1T 6DW
allisonandbusby.com
First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2017.
This ebook edition published by Allison & Busby in 2017.
Copyright © 2017 by MENNA VAN PRAAG
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–2105–4