Leila Rasheed 
Secrets & Sapphires 

DOWNTON ABBEY meets GOSSIP GIRL in this racy first instalment of an exciting new sequence



One house, two worlds, dark secrets…



The year is 1910. For the past decade, the Averley family has lived a life of luxury in India, but now they must return to Lord Averley’s ancestral estate, the sprawling, majestically beautiful Somerton Court. As the household staff hastily prepare for the family’s arrival, they receive shocking news: Lord Averley is bringing back a fiancée with three children of her own, and on top of that, there are rumours of a terrible scandal surrounding Lord Averley’s resignation as Lieutenant Governor of Bengal.



As the family settles in, tensions arise both upstairs and downstairs. Lady Ada must choose between her honour and her heart, Sebastian must fend off ruinous threats from a former servant (and lover…) and gentle housemaid Rose will find herself at the centre of a scandal so enormous it could destroy the Averleys’ reputation forever. With plenty of scheming, scandal and sauciness, SECRETS & SAPPHIRES is a thrilling period-drama perfect for fans of Jilly Cooper and DOWNTON ABBEY.

Mengenai Pengarang

Leila Rasheed was brought up in Libya and moved to England when she was thirteen. She has worked as a children’s bookseller for Waterstone’s in Brussels and for a national children’s literacy charity, but now writes and teaches creative writing full time. She has two Masters degrees, one in Children’s Literature and one in Writing. She currently lives in Birmingham with her husband, who is a Danish composer, and their baby son. She loves reading about history and archaeology and would like to be reincarnated as Indiana Jones. Leila has previously written three fiction books for younger readers called THE DIARIES OF BATHSHEBA CLARICE DE TROP, but SECRETS & SAPPHIRES is her first novel for young adults. Follow Leila at www.leilarasheed.com or on Twitter: @Leila R