Sybil and Blake Gregory have established a predictable, well ordered Manhattan life?she as a cutting edge design authority and museum consultant, he in high tech investments?raising their teenagers Andrew and Caroline and six year old Charlie. But everything changes when Blake is offered a dream job he can?t resist as CEO of a start up in San Francisco. He accepts it without consulting his wife, and buys a magnificent, irresistibly underpriced historic Pacific Heights mansion as their new home.Shocked by an earthquake the night they arrive, the past and present suddenly collide for them in the elegant mansion filled with tender memories and haunting portraits. The original inhabitants suddenly appear for a few brief minutes. In the ensuing days, they meet the large and lively family who lived there a century ago: distinguished Bertrand Butterfield and his gracious wife Gwyneth, their sons Josiah and little Magnus, daughters Bettina and Lucy, formidable Scottish matriarch Augusta and her eccentric brother Angus.All long since dead. All very much alive in spirit?and visible to the Gregorys and no one else. The two families are delighted to share elegant dinners and warm friendship. They have much to teach each other, as the Gregorys watch the past unfold, while living their own modern day lives. Within these enchanted rooms, it is at once 1917 and a century later, where the Gregorys realize they have been given a perfect gift?beloved friends and the wisdom to shape their own future with gratitude and grace from a fascinating past.Past Perfect is Danielle Steel at her bewitching best, a novel for the ages.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.