Penny Vincenzi, master of the contemporary blockbuster, returns with a moving, engaging portrait of people coping with a notorious financial disaster and its unpredictable emotional repercussions.

Set during the boom-and-bust years of the 1980s, An Absolute Scandal follows the lives of a group of people drawn together by their mutual monetary woes when the great financial institution Lloyd's undergoes a devastating downturn. For Nigel Cowper, this means the destruction of his family business; his wife, Lucinda, is willing to do everything she can to help him—except give up her irresistible lover. The powerful, charismatic banker Simon Beaumont and his wife, a highly successful advertising executive, lose everything they worked so hard to acquire; but the ultimate tragedy is something that neither one could have anticipated. The well-to-do are not the only ones a self-sufficient widow is suddenly deep in debt; a single mother struggles to maintain a comfortable home for her children; and a schoolmaster and his frustrated wife find that financial problems deepen the cracks in their troubled marriage.

As their lives begin a downward spiral, these characters intersect in ways they never saw coming. Written in what has become her signature style of both wit and candor, Penny Vincenzi draws back the curtain and offers an inside view of the greed and social power plays that occur behind the closed doors of upper-crust society . . . where money isn’t everything. Sometimes, it’s the only thing.

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Store Description

CURIO was established in 1999 in Bingham, a town 10 miles from the city of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, before relocating to Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire in 2007. As of 2025 we are now in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire. We have a wide selection of stock comprising of first editions, fiction and non-fiction, signed and limited editions, children's books, and antiquarian books.

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CURIO
United Kingdom

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All prices are British Pound Sterling. Payments through AbeBooks with credit / debit cards.

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Books remain the property of CURIO until full payment has been received.

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Order quantity	8 to 21 business days	5 to 7 business days
First item	US$ 40.65	US$ 54.20

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