The Long Deception

Book excerpt: The sudden death of a childhood friend forces a woman to rethink her own life--and make an impossible decision. Alison Eastlake has come a long way from the wild days of her youth in England. Now, instead of streaking her hair purple, dreaming of becoming an artist, and sneaking cigarettes in her friend Sophie's basement, she has a career in advertising in Los Angeles and attends black-tie dinners with her executive husband. She fears that she is fast becoming the type of person she once despised. When Alison receives news that Sophie has died of a drug overdose, leaving behind a slew of unanswered questions, she must go back home. Once there, she unearths reminders of her unruly past, including feelings for Sophie's brother, Matt--and finds that she is still powerfully attracted to him. Careening dangerously close to a full-blown affair, Alison must now make an impossible decision. But when a long-buried secret about Sophie resurfaces, it shatters everything Alison had always believed about the past--and forces her to rethink her own life, her marriage, and her future.