The Butler / Beauchamp Hall Bind Up

The Butler

The Butler is an extraordinary tale of family, difficult decisions, and destiny, from the world's favourite storyteller, Danielle Steel.

Joachim von Hartmann was born and raised in Buenos Aires by his loving German mother, Liese, along with his identical twin. But when Joachim moves to Paris with Liese in his late teens, his twin enters a dark world and refuses to leave his beloved Argentina. Joachim begins training to be a butler, fascinated by the meticulous precision and intense demands it involves, 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 of 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 and Joachim's paths cross.

Joachim, on a whim, takes a job working for Olivia for a few weeks, which turn to months as the unlikely pair discover they enjoy working side by side. At the same time, Joachim is shocked to learn the family history he never knew, involving his grandfather's sinister wartime activity, and also to hear news of the dangerous criminal his twin has become. While Olivia struggles to put her life back together, Joachim's falls apart.

Stripped of their old roles, they strive to discover the truth about each other and themselves, first as employer and employee, then as friends. Their paths no longer sure, they are a man and woman who reach a place where the past doesn't matter and only what they are living now is true.

Beauchamp Hall

Inspired by the hit TV show Downton Abbey, Beauchamp Hall is an uplifting story of an ordinary woman embracing an extraordinary adventure, from the international number one bestseller Danielle Steel.

Winona Farmington once dreamed of graduating from college and moving away from her small Michigan hometown. Then real life got in the way, and now she's in a dead-end job with a loser boyfriend.

As she comes to believe that perhaps dreams are meant for others, at least she can console herself by escaping into the world of Beauchamp Hall, a hugely popular British TV series set on a Norfolk estate in the 1920s.

When Winona is betrayed by both her boyfriend and best friend and loses her job, she feels that life can't get much worse. So she impulsively buys a one-way ticket to the UK to visit the village where Beauchamp Hall is filmed. The colourful cast become her friends, and the behind-the-scenes affairs become a drama to match the show.

What happens next, as Winona takes the boldest step of all, reminds us never to settle for second best and to always follow our dreams.