It's easy to forget at this juncture just how totally Shirley Conran changed the face of British blockbuster publishing. Now that so many imitators have attempted to steal her thunder, it's a struggle to remember when people were outraged by her heroines' unorthodox sexual practices--or even by the fact that Penguin was prepared to publish such an unbuttoned author. Perhaps aware of the necessity to innovate (in order to stay ahead of the game) Conran has here produced a lavish historical novel transporting the reader through the first half of the 20th century. However, her fans need not worry that this change of direction is too extreme: all the trademark candour and raciness are fully in place. When teenager Mimi Quinn is sent to London by her mother to become a domestic servant, she encounters a colourful group of music-hall players who ensure that her life goes off at quite a different tangent. Mimi becomes a singer, and her beautiful friend Betsy is clearly destined to be a major star in the troupe. But when a terrible accident destroys their ambitions and inaugurates a relentless feud between two of the most famous acting families on either side of the Atlantic, the stage is set for a full-blooded epic of passion, betrayal and revenge. --Barry Forshaw