“A captivating story about the power of friendship . . . More than a novel, it is a recipe for happiness.”—Anne Fortier, New York Times bestselling author of Juliet Every dress has a history. And so does every woman. Phoebe Swift’s friends are stunned when she abruptly leaves a plum job to open her own vintage clothing shop in London—but to Phoebe, it’s the fulfillment of a dream, and her passion. Digging for finds in attics and wardrobes, Phoebe knows that when you buy a piece of vintage clothing, you’re not just buying fabric and thread—you’re buying a piece of someone’s past. But one particular article of clothing will soon unexpectedly change her life. Thérèse Bell, an elderly Frenchwoman, has an impressive clothing collection. But among the array of elegant suits and couture gowns, Phoebe finds a child’s sky-blue coat—an item with which Mrs. Bell is stubbornly reluctant to part. As the two women become friends, Phoebe will learn the poignant tale of that little blue coat. And she will discover an astonishing connection between herself and Thérèse Bell—one that will help her heal the pain of her own past and allow her to love again. BONUS: This edition contains an A Vintage Affair discussion guide and an excerpt from Isabel Wolff's The Very Picture of You. “Romantic and sumptuous, this is a must for fans of vintage dresses and vintage romance.”—Hester Browne, author of The Little Lady Agency “This colorful new novel has something for everyone. There is mystery, romance, great characters, as well as London and France.”—Naples Daily News “Deftly blends past and present, romance and mystery, and a theme of forgiveness and redemption.”—Mary Kincaid, HuffPost

Message in a bottle. Somewhere in the cobwebbed cellar of the decrepit antebellum mansion known as Ballineen are the legendary Lee bottles--and Austin Gillespie is there to find them. The last thing on his mind is hot and heavy romance with handsome bad boy PI Jeff Brady. But Jeff has other ideas and, after one intoxicating night, so does Austin. The only problem is they have different ideas. Jeff doesn’t believe in love at first sight, and even if he did, he's buried more deeply in the closet than those famous missing bottles of vintage Madeira. Popping a cork or two is one thing. Popping the question? No way. No how. Unless Austin is ready to give up on another dream, he's going to have to figure out how to make sure the lights go on--and stay on--in Georgia.

Phoebe Swift, coping with the recent loss of her best friend, Emma, has opened a vintage dress shop. As she restores the vintage clothes, she meets a French lady, who has some old clothing to sell -- including a little blue coat from wartime France. The French lady gradually reveals the story behind the clothing.

Phoebe's dream of opening her own vintage dress shop finally comes true -- but the shadow of her past still lingers. When she meets Thérèse, an elderly Frenchwoman with a collection to sell, and learns the story behind the little blue coat that she won’t part with, Phoebe feels a profound connection with her own life, one that will help her heal the pain of her past and allow her to love again.

A Vintage Affair by Elizabeth Barnes released on Sep 24, 1991 is available now for purchase.

Drawing on newly declassified government files, this is the dramatic story of how a forbidden book in the Soviet Union became a secret CIA weapon in the ideological battle between East and West. In May 1956, an Italian publishing scout took a train to a village just outside Moscow to visit Russia’s greatest living poet, Boris Pasternak. He left carrying the original manuscript of Pasternak’s first and only novel, entrusted to him with these words: “This is Doctor Zhivago. May it make its way around the world.” Pasternak believed his novel was unlikely ever to be published in the Soviet Union, where the authorities regarded it as an irredeemable assault on the 1917 Revolution. But he thought it stood a chance in the West and, indeed, beginning in Italy, Doctor Zhivago was widely published in translation throughout the world. From there the life of this extraordinary book entered the realm of the spy novel. The CIA, which recognized that the Cold War was above all an ideological battle, published a Russian-language edition of Doctor Zhivago and smuggled it into the Soviet Union. Copies were devoured in Moscow and Leningrad, sold on the black market, and passed surreptitiously from friend to friend. Pasternak’s funeral in 1960 was attended by thousands of admirers who defied their government to bid him farewell. The example he set launched the great tradition of the writer-dissident in the Soviet Union. In The Zhivago Affair, Peter Finn and Petra Couvée bring us intimately close to this charming, passionate, and complex artist. First to obtain CIA files providing concrete proof of the agency’s involvement, the authors give us a literary thriller that takes us back to a fascinating period of the Cold War—to a time when literature had the power to stir the world. (With 8 pages of black-and-white illustrations.)