The butler : a novel
(Book)

Library Journal Prepub Alert,,April 20, 2021

"The moment the plane touched down at Ministro Pistorini Airport in Buenos Aires, Joachim von Hartmann knew in every fiber of his being that he was home. It was almost as if his heart and soul, and even his body, knew it. He had left as a boy of seventeen, twenty-five years before, when he moved to France with his mother, and new French stepfather. Eight years later, he went to England on a lark, which turned into a worthy career for the past seventeen years. His roots are now firmly planted in Europe, but he realized as he breathed the air of Buenos Aires that his heart had remained here"--,Provided by publisher.

"Two different worlds and two very different lives collide in Paris ... Joachim von Hartmann was born and raised in Buenos Aires by his loving German mother, inseparable from his identical twin. When Joachim moves to Paris with his mother in his late teens, his twin stays behind and enters a dark world. Meanwhile, Joachim begins training to be a butler, fascinated by the precision and intense demands, and goes on to work in some of the grandest homes in England ... Olivia White has given ten years of her life to her magazine, which failed, taking all her dreams with it. A bequest from her mother allows her a year in Paris to reinvent herself. She needs help setting up a home in a charming Parisian apartment. It is then that her path and Joachim's cross. Joachim takes a job working for Olivia as a lark and enjoys the whimsy of a different life for a few weeks, which turn to months as the unlikely employer and employee learn they enjoy working side by side. At the same time, Joachim discovers the family history he never knew: a criminal grandfather who died in prison, the wealthy father who abandoned him, and the dangerous criminal his twin has become. While Olivia struggles to put her life back together, Joachim's comes apart"--,Provided by publisher.

Adult,Brodart.