Introduction

Raised in a poor yet genteel household, Rachel Woodley is working in France as a governess when she receives news that her mother has died, suddenly. Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage...and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three month before. He's an earl, respected and influential, and he is standing with another daughter-his legitimate daughter. Which makes Rachel...not legitimate. Everything she thought she knew about herself and her past-even her very name-is a lie.

Still reeling from the death of her mother, and furious at this betrayal, Rachel sets herself up in London under a new identity. There she insinuates herself into the party-going crowd of Bright Young Things, with a steely determination to unveil her father's perfidy and bring his-and her half-sister's-charmed world crashing down. Very soon, however, Rachel faces two unexpected snags: she finds she genuinely likes her half-sister, Olivia, whose situation isn't as simple it appears; and she might just be falling for her sister's fiancé...

From Lauren Willig, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Ashford Affair, comes The Other Daughter, a page-turner full of deceit, passion, and revenge.

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Excerpt

Water steamed into the old brown teapot with the wonky spout. The smell of tea rose like memory. Her mother’s favorite tea, Irish tea, strong as sin. During the War, they’d used the leaves over and over, until the tea was little more than faintly tinted water. Rachel could remember that first cup of real tea after the War, her mother’s palpable satisfaction as she poured the dark brown liquid from the pot, breathing in the scented steam. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

• If you were Rachel, how would you feel about discovering your father was still alive? Would you pursue inquiries? Or leave it be?
• Do you think Rachel would have been happier not knowing her father was alive?
• What did you think of Simon at the beginning of the book? How did your impressions change?
• This book takes place among the small but colorful segment of society known as the Bright Young Things. Had you heard of them before? Was there anything about them that surprised you?
• The Bright Young Things were a culture of youth. By their standards, both Simon and Rachel are considered “old”. Do you feel the generational difference between Simon, Rachel, Olivia, and Cece? Or is it less a matter of generation and more of character?
• Are you a Rachel, an Olivia, or a Cece? Why?
• What did you think happened between Rachel’s parents? Were you surprised by the final resolution?
• How does Rachel’s father being an earl affect your impression of him and his actions throughout the book? How would this story have been different if her reappearing father was a doctor or a dock-worker?
• What role does the war and the memory of the war play in this book?
• Rachel reflects that truth isn’t necessarily what happened but what one believed happened, that stories take on a truth of their own. Do you agree or disagree with this?

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