title: The Astor Orphan: A Memoir
author:  Alexandra Aldrich 
description: A sparklingly mischievous debut. . . . Aldrichs narrative tidily and fondly bears witness to the inexorable unraveling of a storied genealogy. (Publishers Weekly <strong>(starred review)</strong>)<br /><br />Novelistic. . . . Vividly gothic. . . . Its a trick to tell a story this rich and complicated through the eyes of a child without losing the subtleties of character and nuances of history, but Aldrich pulls it off with aplomb. (Kirkus Reviews <strong>(starred review)</strong>)<br /><br />Its the highest of compliments to say that a memoir reads like fiction, and Alexandra Aldrich accomplishes this in her phenomenal debut. With swift, haunting prose, she breathes new life into the Astor clan. (Susannah Cahalan, bestselling author of <i>Brain on Fire</i>)<br /><br />A beautifully-rendered family sagafull of fires, affairs, aristocrats and illegitimate children. At the center is an endearing heroine, whose eccentric childhood on the <i>Grey Gardens</i>-style Rokeby estate would make Dickens gasp. . . . Splendid. (Jennifer Vanderbes, author of <i>Easter Island</i> and <i>Strangers at the Feast</i>)<br /><br />Evocative. . . . Aldrich astutely portrays a colorful cast of aunts, uncles, cousins and hangers-onclinging to the family legacy long after the money is gone. One cant help but cheer as she breaks away from the others to make a name for herself. (Elliott Holt, author of <i>You Are One of Them</i>)
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  ### About the Book
  
  
  When Juliet Porter’s mother dies, she leaves her a letter and an old second
  world war photograph, which reveal a shattering secret. The father she had
  known and loved dearly until the end of his life had not been her father after
  all. Instead, it seems that she is the daughter of an American bomber pilot
  who is completely unaware of her existence. Without knowing his name and with
  only the photograph to help her, Juliet sets out to search for her real
  father.
  
  
  The task of tracing him proves both daunting and difficult. The trail is old
  and cold, and seemingly best left undisturbed, but Juliet feels compelled to
  go on, driven by a desperate need to find her father. Her search takes her
  back to the old wartime Suffolk airfield where her mother fell in love with
  the American pilot in 1942, and, eventually, to California where in the end
  she meets not only her past but also her future.
  
  
  A superbly romantic wartime saga by the bestselling author of _