The Proposal (42 page)

Set in the dining room of one of New York’s most romantic and elegant hotels – The Inn at Irving Place – afternoon tea at Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon is like stepping into an Edith Wharton novel. Channel your inner debutante and go.

Lady Mendl’s at The Inn at Irving Place – 56 Irving Place, NY

A helicopter ride! Around the city! Incredible views you’ll remember for a lifetime.

Downtown heliport – 6 East River Piers, NY

Thanks, as usual, to the wonderful team at Headline, particularly my editor Sherise Hobbs who was passionate about
The Proposal
from the moment I told her about it. Continued thanks to my family and friends who are always there to help and support me, and who never complained when I disappeared to meet not one, but two book deadlines this year.

The idea for
The Proposal
began when I went to see a wonderful exhibition at Kensington Palace called ‘The Last Debutantes’ in 2010. As I left the Palace I was convinced that the 1958 Season would make a fascinating backdrop for a novel and I began researching the era in between writing my usual summer books.

Thanks to all those 1958ers who spoke to me about their memories of the time – you really made it come alive. I am also grateful to the staff at the British Library who assisted with all the archive publications from 1958 which provided such detail. Thank you also to Cynthia and Carmela Corbett and the staff of the Plaza Athénée.

Delving into the life and times of the last debutantes was one of the most fascinating and enjoyable things I have done in my novel-writing career. If you are interested in knowing more I can recommend Fiona MacCarthy’s
Last Curtsey
and David Kynaston’s
Modernity Britain
which are both excellent insights into 1958 and the dying days of the Debs.