Letter from a Stranger

Letter from a Stranger
Barbara Taylor Bradford

SCaptivating and evocative, Letter from Istanbul will take you on an unforgettable journey from idyllic Connecticut to exotic Istanbul to war-torn Berlin then back to the present day.When award-winning film maker Justine Nolan returns to her beautiful childhood home, she is intrigued by an envelope she finds in her absent mother’s post. But the letter inside contains a shocking revelation. If genuine, it will change everything she believes about her family’s recent history, her mother and her adored grandmother, Gabriele.With the support of her beloved twin brother, Richard, Justine resolves to uncover the truth. To do so she must travel to Istanbul – the teeming, beguiling city on the cusp of East and West. It is a place which holds its own secrets, leading her to a fascinating man who appears to know more than he is prepared to disclose.Yet even when her quest succeeds, Justine is faced with a further mystery: Gabriele’s background is not what it seems. Justine is given a book of memories in which the real story unfolds, taking her back to the darkest days of European history, with its suffering and astonishing acts of bravery. At the heart of it lie the final facts of Gabriele’s identity – and her own.The letter from a stranger has brought her not only to the truth about her family but also a chance to heal the wounds of past betrayals, to embrace a new love and a new life.

Barbara Taylor Bradford

Letter From a Stranger

Copyright

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2011

LETTER FROM A STRANGER. Copyright © Barbara Taylor Bradford 2011. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Barbara Taylor Bradford asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 9780007304134

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2011 ISBN: 9780007304226

Version: 2017-11-16

Dedication

Again for my husband Bob, and as always

with my love

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Istanbul: April 2004

Prologue

The letter, contemplated and worried about for such a long…

Part One

The Letter

One

The view from the second-floor terrace was panoramic, and breathtaking.

Two

Later that afternoon, when Daisy was taking a nap, Justine…

Three

The moment they entered Richard’s glass-enclosed studio, Justine sat down…

Four

Once Richard had left with Daisy, Justine walked slowly down…

Five

‘You look great,’ Joanne Brandon exclaimed, walking across the worn…

Six

Tita brought coffee to the drawing room, and then disappeared.

Part Two

The Search

Seven

Justine recognized Iffet Özgönül at once. It helped, of course,…

Eight

A voice filled the room. A man’s voice. Melodic. Slightly…

Nine

They were in the middle of the teeming city in…