Monday Give Away: THE ASHFORD AFFAIR

April is the month of The Ashford Affair (it came out in hardcover in April ’13, and paperback at the beginning of this April), so it seemed appropriate to round off April with a giveaway of the new paperback edition of The Ashford Affair.

Here’s the official blurb:

Ashford PaperbackFrom New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig comes The Ashford Affair, a page-turning novel about two women in different eras, and on different continents, who are connected by one deeply buried secret.

As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, just shy of making partner, Clementine Evans has finally achieved almost everything she’s been working towards—but now she’s not sure it’s enough. Her long hours have led to a broken engagement and, suddenly single at thirty-four, she feels her messy life crumbling around her. But when the family gathers for her grandmother Addie’s ninety-ninth birthday, a relative lets slip hints about a long-buried family secret, leading Clemmie on a journey into the past that could change everything. . . .

Growing up at Ashford Park in the early twentieth century, Addie has never quite belonged. When her parents passed away, she was taken into the grand English house by her aristocratic aunt and uncle, and raised side-by-side with her beautiful and outgoing cousin, Bea. Though they are as different as night and day, Addie and Bea are closer than sisters, through relationships and challenges, and a war that changes the face of Europe irrevocably. But what happens when something finally comes along that can’t be shared? When the love of sisterhood is tested by a bond that’s even stronger?

From the inner circles of British society to the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the red-dirt hills of Kenya, the never-told secrets of a woman and a family unfurl.

There have been some lovely things said about Ashford since it came out last year, so I’m so excited to have the chance to share it in a whole new edition– which includes an extra chapter that was cut from the end of the hardcover.

(For those of you with the hardcover edition, you can find that “lost” chapter here.)

Already have your own copy of The Ashford Affair? Feel free to give this one away to a friend. I’m happy to personalize it to whomever you like.

So, for a signed, paperback copy of The Ashford Affair, here’s your question:

Which is your favorite book that goes back and forth in time?

Two people will be chosen at random to receive a signed copy of The Ashford Affair in paperback.

You can find an excerpt from Ashford here, an audio excerpt here, and reading group questions here.

Winners to be announced on Friday!

68 Comments

  1. Ammy Belle on April 28, 2014 at 5:57 pm

    I really liked “The Time Traveler’s Wife” – it’s a more literal interpretation of back-and-forth in time, but there you go 🙂

  2. Ella on April 28, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    The Ashford Affair is the only one I’ve read. Though, Secrets of a Lady had a chapter that went back in time, but that was it. Taking recommendations still, my to-read list on good reads is quite long…

  3. Betty S. on April 28, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    I have so many favorites, with The Ashford Affair being at the top of my list – I loved the story of Clemmie and Addie. I am finding this back and forth in time a very pleasing style of book. Must also say The Pink Carnation series.

    Some other favorites are:
    The House of the Wind by Titania Hardie – modern day San Francisco/England/Italy back in time to Tuscany, Italy.

    Juliet by Anne Fortier

    Kathleen McGowan has a series: The Expected One, The Book of Love, and The Poet Prince.

    And of course Susanna Kearsley’s The Winter Sea (reading now) and The Firebird.

  4. Stephanie on April 28, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    I love Susanna Kearsley’s books. Either The Winter Sea or The Firebird for my favorite.

  5. Nicole on April 28, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    The 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield.

  6. Catie on April 28, 2014 at 8:43 pm

    I just finished “The Night Circus” for a book club. I was a little thrown by the time traveling chapters, but was quickly enchanted!

  7. Elizabeth Lefebvre on April 28, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    It’s not sucking up if I say That Summer is it? Second choice would be Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper for more traditional time slips… because obviously I love all the Pink Books 🙂 Oh and Night Circus is awesome… ok, I just love this genre a lot…

  8. Jenny on April 28, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

  9. Nancy Kvorka on April 28, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    I am going to say Time and Again by Jack Finney which is the first time travel novel I read. Time travel is one of my favorite types of book, or split time with the story taking place in two different eras. Or is that called slip time?

  10. Jan Siler on April 28, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    I really enjoyed The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley, but I have now enjoyed the Pink books and Ashford Affair through many, many readings – which, to me, is highest praise!

  11. Sue G on April 28, 2014 at 9:16 pm

    The Masque of the Black Tulip is my favorite novel that goes back and forth in time. Miles and Henrietta are two of my favorite characters.
    I finished Sarah Jio’s Goodnight June over the weekend. Loved how she used letters to bridge the past with the present.

  12. Anna G-B on April 28, 2014 at 9:18 pm

    The Pink Carnation books by Lauren Willig
    Time Machine by HG Wells
    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
    A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
    Harry Potter and the Prizsoner of Askaban by JK Rowling
    The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

  13. Sandra Zajac on April 28, 2014 at 9:21 pm

    The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Really love time travel.

  14. Daniele Krug on April 28, 2014 at 10:01 pm

    Kate Morton always hits the spot…so looking forward to reading The Ashford Affair. Thanks for the opportunity.

  15. Robin Driscoll on April 28, 2014 at 10:34 pm

    I don’t think I have read a book that goes back and forth in time. This book sounds good and would love to read it.

  16. Am7 on April 28, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    Joanna Bourne’s The Black Hawk. The book starts when the characters are in their 30’s (1818?) and flashes forward and back to earlier moments including the (1790’s) and (1802) and (1815) and (1818) to show significant moments in the character’s history.

  17. Suzanne on April 29, 2014 at 12:35 am

    My favourites are:

    Lauren’s Pink books
    Ashford
    Kate Morton’s books
    On The Street Where You Live by Mary Higgins Clark
    A Dark Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine

    While we are on the subject I feel I must mention my favourite multi time zone movie, Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again. It is just so gripping and so beautiful.

    • Alice on April 29, 2014 at 1:54 pm

      I completely agree Suzanne! I haven’t seen Dead Again in years, but it really is an exciting, beautiful, and very well-done film. Talk about a blast from the past!

    • Lynne on April 30, 2014 at 12:07 am

      I’ll jump in with Suzanne. The Pink books, for sure, but Kate Moreton’s books have really touched me…she has a gift. And of course Ashford Affair…a great read.

  18. sue luce on April 29, 2014 at 7:44 am

    Cape Cod, Back Bay, and Harvard Yard all by William Martin. Great mysteries and history.

  19. Amyc on April 29, 2014 at 7:58 am

    Definitely Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. One of my favorite books.

  20. Lisa H on April 29, 2014 at 8:11 am

    I’m a huge Susanna Kearsley fan. Her books, The Winter Sea and The Firebird, are firm favorites. Thank you for the chance to win Ashford Affair. I’ve been looking forward to reading it!

  21. Jacqueline B on April 29, 2014 at 8:35 am

    Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, and the subsequent series, would be my vote.

  22. Anne on April 29, 2014 at 9:57 am

    It is hard to choose, since time travel or time slip books are my catnip. I’m not sure if I can. The first book with different time periods that I read was Green Darkness by Anya Seton (recommended by my 7th grade English Teacher). That is an all-time favorite. I also liked Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine and The Eight by Katherine Neville very much. Of Gabaldon’s books, probably Outlander and Voyager are my favorite of the series. Love all the Pink Books. I found Susanna Kearsley, Kate Morton and Joanna Bourne because of discussions on this website and enjoyed them all. If I have to choose a favorite — it is probably The Eight — 1970s and French Revolution — with cameos of Catherine the Great, Marat and discussion about OPEC!

  23. diane on April 29, 2014 at 10:54 am

    The Pink Carnation was a great book. Wish you would keep going with the series. Maybe in a couple of years you could come back to it for a visit?

  24. Magda on April 29, 2014 at 11:10 am

    Love Outlander and Prisoner of Azkaban

  25. Carla Hundley on April 29, 2014 at 11:21 am

    I love The Outlander
    series.
    Carla from Utah

  26. Bess on April 29, 2014 at 1:41 pm

    While I love Outlander, my favorite time travel book is Daphne De Maurier’s “The House on the Strand”. I read it in junior high and was completely enthralled. I have read it several times since, and always, always love it.

  27. Sherri O. on April 29, 2014 at 2:58 pm

    This is actually a tough question to answer. 🙂 I love The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. My new finds are The Orchid House and The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley.

    • Paula Scott on May 1, 2014 at 10:39 pm

      THanks for recommending Lucinda Riley. I have two of her books on my Amazon wish list and will get them as soon as I get further along in my TBR pile.

  28. Janie Burke on April 29, 2014 at 3:52 pm

    All of the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon,the Highlander series by Karen Marie Moning and from way back when Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux.

  29. Michelle on April 29, 2014 at 4:02 pm

    The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon definitely. I love those books!

  30. Alex on April 29, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    I adored the Pink Carnation (hence why I’m here!) but the novel that springs to mind is one of the first that I read that incorporates a dual storyline – or triple in this case – which is The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Gave me a real taste for books with a modern character finding out about a historical person, event or mystery, which is how I ended up buying myself a copy of the Pink Carnation. Just getting started with actual timeslip books, I enjoyed Outlander but I’m finding the rest of the series a bit tired!

  31. Kristy on April 29, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    I’ll second Janie with “Knight in Shining Armor” with “Time and Again” by Jack Finney as a close second.

  32. bn100 on April 29, 2014 at 4:13 pm

    not really a time travel fan; no favs

  33. JD LaHaie on April 29, 2014 at 4:50 pm

    Bittergreens by Kate Forsyth

  34. Alexandra on April 29, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    I have Outlander on my to-read list. I haven’t read many time slip books.

  35. Emily D. on April 29, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    Possession, by AS Byatt.

  36. Nancy on April 29, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    All of the Pink series but especially The Passion of the Purple Plumeria and The Betrayal of the Blood Lily. Also The Mischief of the Mistletoe since I am a Turnip fan.

  37. Katie on April 29, 2014 at 9:04 pm

    Marianna by Susannah Kearsley

  38. Katharine on April 29, 2014 at 9:16 pm

    One of my favorite genres. The first that comes to mind, of course, is Pink, as I said on Goodreads. Great book with great memories.

    • Katharine on April 29, 2014 at 9:18 pm

      Also love Tracy Chevalier’s The Virgin Blue and Jacqueline Sheehan’s Now and Then.

      • Betty S. on April 30, 2014 at 8:35 pm

        I love The Virgin Blue too, Katharine – really great book!

  39. Abby on April 29, 2014 at 9:53 pm

    Nancy Bond’s Another Shore, which is one of the few time travel/time slip books in which the time traveling character never does return to the present

  40. Chanpreet on April 29, 2014 at 11:21 pm

    The first book that popped into my head after reading your question was Overseas by Beatriz Williams. In fact I discovered her on your blog and and have everything she’s written.

    Oddly enough, I was in a B&N when I came upon a woman going through stacks of books and when I recommended Overseas and The Ashford Affair, she grabbed them for her vacation reading. 🙂

  41. Verity on April 30, 2014 at 5:00 am

    I was having real trouble thinking of novels that go back and forth in time that I’ve read – until I came on here and saw all the suggestions!

    I love Prisoner of Azkaban – it’s the best of all the Potters.

    Of my recent back-and-forth reads (that aren’t by you!), I think that The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro is my favourite, although I’ve also enjoyed The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls and The Wonder Girls.

    • Betty S. on May 1, 2014 at 8:32 pm

      Verity,
      If you haven’t read Susanna Kearsley’s The Shadowy Horses, you need to!

  42. Ashley on April 30, 2014 at 7:38 am

    I haven’t read many time jumping books besides your Pink Carnation series, but I’ve heard so much about the Outlander series and want to give it a try!

  43. Alyssa on April 30, 2014 at 10:53 am

    Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier are two favorites!

  44. Emily on April 30, 2014 at 11:29 am

    Outlander Series, The Rose Garden (or really any Kearsley), or The River of No Return

  45. Jennifer Williams on April 30, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    Absolutely love all the Pink books. Especially Temptation! I simply adore Charlotte and her unicorn bait.

  46. Sarah G. on April 30, 2014 at 3:16 pm

    I’m sure there are more that I’m forgetting, but the favorites I can remember are: a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the Discovery of Witches series, The Eyre Affair, and all of the Pink books, of course. 🙂

  47. Christine Holt on May 1, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    I love this sassy little book by Naomi Neale called “I Went to Vassar for This?” in which the modern city-girl heroine is blasted back to 1959 (by her faulty microwave), and struggles to adjust to a workplace full of girdles, groping and Spam: it’s very funny.

  48. marlene Gartshore on May 1, 2014 at 3:05 pm

    you are so good i love your books would love to have this one.I own a couple but cant buy them all at once . Keep up the good work.

  49. Roberta Conty Emby on May 1, 2014 at 3:25 pm

    Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

  50. Jennifer on May 1, 2014 at 7:14 pm

    I loved The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, and The Ashford Affair. Would love to win my own copy!

  51. Nicole Laverdure on May 1, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    My all time favorite is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon! I would love to read and review your book The Ashford Affair, it seems captivating.

  52. Paula Scott on May 1, 2014 at 10:33 pm

    My favorite book that goes back and forth in time is either The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley or The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.

  53. Paula Scott on May 1, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    I also love Outlander, but wasn’t sure it counted until I saw all the posts. I have the PInk Carnation in my TBR pile. It was recommended to me by someone at a Julia Quinn signing. I’ve been waiting for the Ashford Affair to go down in price on Kindle, so would love to win it.

  54. Mary D. on May 1, 2014 at 10:54 pm

    The Pink Carnation books! I can tell you The Time Machine is my least favorite time travel book.

  55. Teje Ellis on May 2, 2014 at 12:15 am

    Outlander is my favorite time slip book.

  56. Whitney Jennings on May 2, 2014 at 1:23 am

    The Erye Affair is a fantastic book and I got a ton a great suggestions for books to read after going through the comments. Thanks all!

  57. Syrie James on May 2, 2014 at 1:42 am

    Hi Lauren! I’m so excited about this giveaway. The Ashford Affair has been on my Wish List ever since you first told me about it. I’m a huge fan of books that go back and forth in time, so it’s impossible for me to pick just one favorite; it’s a 3-way tie between Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, and The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley.

    • Betty S. on May 2, 2014 at 9:01 pm

      Hi Syrie! I love your books and have mentioned several of them in past posts here. I agree about The Winter Sea and am reading it now.

  58. Jess Baughman on May 2, 2014 at 2:16 am

    Outlander, all of the Pink Carnation books!

  59. Ashlee on May 2, 2014 at 8:54 am

    I really liked The Monster’s of Templeton by Lauren Groff and the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe… but I’m just going to add on top of that with all the Pink Books 🙂

  60. Karen on May 2, 2014 at 9:50 am

    Has to be any of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

  61. Chloe on May 7, 2014 at 8:48 pm

    I love the time travelers wife, I have read it so many times and i always end up crying

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