The Grand Design

Book excerpt: She has one last chance to prove she chose the right course for her life. In 1908, young Dorothy Tuckerman chafes under the bland, beige traditions of her socialite circles. Only the aristocracy’s annual summer trips to The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia spark her imagination. In this naturally beautiful place, an unexpected romance with an Italian racecar driver gives Dorothy a taste of the passion and adventure she wants. But her family intervenes, sentencing Dorothy to the life she hopes to escape. Thirty-eight years later, as World War II draws to a close, Dorothy has done everything a woman in the early twentieth century should not: she has divorced her husband—scandalous—and established America’s first interior design firm—shocking. Now, Dorothy returns to The Greenbrier with the assignment to restore it to something even greater than its original glory. With her beloved company’s future hanging in the balance and brimming with daring, unconventional ideas, Dorothy has one more chance to give her dreams wings or succumb to her what society tells her is her inescapable fate. Based on the true story of famed designer Dorothy Draper, The Grand Design is a moving tale of one woman’s quest to transform the walls that hold her captive. “Five Stars!” —Carleton Varney, president of Dorothy Draper & Company, Inc. “As captivating and confident as the heroine at its center.” —Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil “Full of luscious details of fashion and luxury!” —Kelly O’Connor McNees, author of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott “A dazzling, intimate portrait.” —Louise Claire Johnson, author of Behind the Red Door “Historical fiction at its finest!” —Elyssa Friedland, author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel Historical novel centered around America’s first female interior designer Stand-alone novel Book length: 109,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs