Sins

Judith Gould's powerful first novel, a classic among modern commercial fiction, tells a take of murder revenge, blackmail, and a multitude of deadly sins.As a child in Nazi-occupied France, seven-year-old Hélène Junot witnessed the brutal murder, rape and violence that tore her family apart and left her orphaned. Vowing to repay the sins visited upon her family seven-fold, she swore vengeance -- and throughout the tumultuous decades that followed, committed her own share of sins as she ruthlessly built a fashion empire and clawed her way to the top, climbing to the peaks of glamourous international society, money and power.But vengeance can carry a price all its own. Relentlessly pursued by more than her share of wrathful enemies --all of whom have personal reasons to destroy, or even kill her --she discovers that love is a far more powerful potion than retribution and that it is the only salvation that can make her life whole.Vivid in its details, and with a plot sprawling across decades, this epic, atmospheric and quick-moving novel weaves together sins and counter-sins in a brilliant, electrifying and masterfully told story that contains all the elements and alluring characters that have become the hallmark of Judith Gould at the height of her storytelling powers.