Author: Dorothea Benton Frank
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 006239083X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 385
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Book Description
“If I could only read one writer from now until the end of my life, it would be Dorothea Benton Frank.” --Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of The Identicals The Lowcountry of South Carolina is where By Invitation Only begins at a barbecue engagement party thrown by Diane English Stiftel, her brother Floyd, and her parents to celebrate her son’s engagement. On this gorgeous, magical night, the bride’s father, Alejandro Cambria, a wealthy power broker whose unbelievably successful career in private equity made him one of Chicago’s celebrated elite, discovers the limits and possibilities of cell phone range. While the mother of the bride, Susan Kennedy Cambria, who dabbles in the world of public relations and believes herself deserving of every square inch of her multimillion-dollar penthouse and imaginary carrara marble pedestal, learns about moonshine and dangerous liaisons. Soon By Invitation Only zooms to Chicago, where the unraveling accelerates. Nearly a thousand miles away from her comfortable, familiar world, Diane is the antithesis of the bright lights and super-sophisticated guests attending her son Fred’s second engagement party. Why a second party? Maybe it had been assumed that the first one wouldn’t be up to snuff? Fred is marrying Shelby Cambria, also an only child. The Cambrias’ dearest wish is for their daughter to be happy. If Shelby wants to marry Frederick, aka Fred, they will not stand in her way—although Susan does hope her friends won’t think her daughter is marrying more than a few degrees beneath her socially. At the same time, Diane worries that her son will be lost to her forever. By Invitation Only is a tale of two families, one struggling to do well, one well to do, and one young couple—the privileged daughter of Chicago’s crème de la crème and the son of hard -working Southern peach farmers. Dorothea Benton Frank offers a funny, sharp, and deeply empathetic novel of two very different worlds—of limousines and pickup trucks, caviars and pigs, skyscrapers and ocean spray—filled with a delightful cast of characters who all have something to hide and a lot to learn. A difference in legal opinions, a headlong dive from grace, and an abrupt twist will reveal the truth of who they are and demonstrate, when it truly counts, what kind of grit they have. Are they living the life they want, what regrets do they hold, and how would they remake their lives if they were given the invitation to do so? By Invitation Only is classic Dorothea Benton Frank—a mesmerizing Lowcountry Tale that roars with spirit, humor, and truth, and forces us to reconsider our notions of what it means to be a Have or a Have Not.
Author: Alexis Maybank
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101571918
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
On a warm September night in 2002, former acquaintances Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis reconnected at a mixer for new students at Harvard Business School. Alexis had just ended a four-year run at eBay during the dotcom boom and bust. Alexandra had just spent three years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Now they were entering the country’s top training ground for future titans of Wall Street and the Fortune 500. Little did either suspect that five years later, they’d become famous not in finance or consulting or corporate management, but at the bleeding-edge intersection of fashion and technology. Gilt Groupe – launched by Alexis, Alexandra, and three colleagues in 2007 – is one of the most fascinating startups of recent years, with a valuation of more than $1 billion. And it all began with one bold idea: to bring sample sales online and change the way millions shop. As Alexis and Alexandra write about the day Gilt.com went live: “We had created a website that could potentially change the rules of retail, for both shoppers and brands. If shopping was traditionally a slow, leisurely activity that might consume an entire day, it would now be competitive, addictive, urgent, thrilling—a rush delivered at the same time each day. Shopping would become not just easier, but so much fun.” But turning that vision into reality wasn’t easy. Designers had long controlled their own sample sales by staging them in anonymous, makeshift locations and strictly limiting invitations. Those lucky enough to hear about a Marc Jacobs or Hermès sample sale would drop everything and run for dramatic, fleeting bargains. Why should elite brands support a new startup trying to replicate the experience online? And even if brands like Valentino, Christian Louboutin, and Zac Posen got on board, would shoppers embrace such a website? Would the kind of people who love high-end fashion really visit a new online sale each day? Was “accessible luxury” a breakthrough idea or an absurd oxymoron? Alexis and Alexandra share their perspective in this dramatic story of Gilt’s birth, rise, and evolution. They show how they juggled the conflicting needs of their suppliers, engineers, marketers, and potential investors. They explain how they blended their individual strengths and weaknesses and managed their rapidly growing team. They cover the growing pains of expanding into new categories like housewares, travel, and menswear. And they take us through the darkest moments of the recession when Gilt might easily have died. As you’ll learn from the true story of Gilt, anything is possible for those with the creativity to recognize a new opportunity and the perseverance to make it real.
Author: Robert S. Boynton
Publisher: Atlantic Books Ltd
ISBN: 1782398511
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204
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Book Description
During the 1970s and early 80s, dozens - perhaps hundreds - of Japanese civilians were kidnapped by North Korean commandos and forced to live in 'Invitation Only Zones', high-security detention-centres masked as exclusive areas, on the outskirts of Pyongyang. The objective? To brainwash the abductees with the regime's ideology, and train them to spy on the state's behalf. But the project faltered; when indoctrination failed, the captives were forced to teach North Korean operatives how to pass as Japanese, to help them infiltrate hostile neighbouring nations. For years, the Japanese and North Korean authorities brushed off these disappearances, but in 2002 Kim Jong Il admitted to kidnapping thirteen citizens, returning five of them - the remaining eight were declared dead. In The Invitation Only Zone, Boynton, an investigative journalist, speaks with the abductees, nationalists and diplomats, and crab fishermen, to try and untangle both the kidnappings and the intensely complicated relations between North Korea and Japan. The result is a fierce and fascinating exploration of North Korea's mysterious machinations, and the vexed politics of Northeast Asia.
Author: Kate Brian
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471116484
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 222
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Book Description
Set in a world of exclusive boarding schools, Kate Brian's compelling series, PRIVATE, combines the bitchy snobbery of the elite and wealthy with a Heather-esq element of dark secrets, mystery, and satire. An invitation is only the beginning… Reed Brennan is living her dream. She's a student at prestigious Easton Academy and she's been invited to live in the exclusive Billings Hall, home to the most beautiful, intelligent, and enviable girls on campus. Life couldn't bemore exciting - apart from the nagging fact that her boyfriend, Thomas, has gone missing… A night partying in the woods leads to Reed being caught in a compromising situation. Now she's being blackmailed: either she dishes the dirt on the Billings Girls, or she'll be exposed - and expelled… This compelling series full of dark secrets, mystery and satire is a must for fans of Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Mean Girls?.
Author: Jodi Della Femina
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312611415
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 372
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Book Description
Femina has spent a lifetime meeting extraordinary people, watching her father's businesses flourish, and working in his famous restaurant on Long Island. From her rarified perspective, she has fashioned a novel about what she knows best.
Author: Schindler, Henri
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
ISBN: 9781455608393
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 170
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Book Description
New Orleans collectibles, and especially Mardi Gras collectibles, continue to be popular worldwide. This gorgeous volume of vintage Mardi Gras ball invitations, dance cards, and admit cards shows off just what kinds of collectibles are still available. Mardi Gras Treasures offers a wonderful look back on the glories of Carnival art, in a single volume that is itself a collector's item. This special limited edition of 500 is numbered and signed by the author, presented in a lovely cloth slipcase.
Author: Geneva Lee
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781945163197
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 238
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Book Description
An end-of-the-year party ends in murder and everyone is a suspect.
Author: Louise Cowan
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 9780801068102
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Motivation and direction for reading and understanding the great authors and works of Western culture.
Author: Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0722540450
Category : Self-actualization (Psychology)
Languages : en
Pages : 147
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Book Description
Cult bestseller The Invitation is more than just a poem. It is a profound invitation to a life that is more fulfilling and passionate, with greater integrity. This book is a word-of-mouth sensation, whose truths have resonated with people all over the world, and is now reissued with a beautiful new cover design.
Author: Mari Perron
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781456580315
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 310
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Book Description
No matter how much is learned, if that learning remains in our heads, it is not enough. Unless learning touches our hearts, it's never going to bring us the wisdom we seek, the peace we desire, or the intimacy and connection for which we yearn. A new and more receptive way of knowing is needed, and is found in this course for the heart. "A Course of Love" was received by Mari Perron and given to be a "new" course in miracles. It is for the heart what "A Course in Miracles" is for the mind. For many, it is the next step in a journey already begun.
