'Er is me altijd verteld dat mijn vader in de oorlog was gesneuveld.' Zo begint in 1920 het epische levensverhaal van Harry Clifton. Harry, de zoon van een havenarbeider in Bristol, heeft zijn vader nooit gekend. De verwachting is dat ook Harry een toekomst op de werf tegemoet gaat, maar dankzij een opmerkelijke gave wordt hij toegelaten tot een exclusieve jongensschool, waardoor zijn leven onomkeerbaar verandert. Als Harry een volwassen man is, komt hij er eindelijk achter hoe zijn vader echt aan zijn einde kwam. De verschrikkelijke waarheid leidt Harry naar een volgende vraag: was Arthur Clifton eigenlijk wel zijn vader? Is hij het kind van een arme havenwerker, of is hij de oudste zoon van de erfgenaam van een scheepsimperium?
De Clifton Kronieken Reeks
Deze meeslepende, generatie-overkoepelende saga vertelt de levens van één familie gedurende de twintigste eeuw, met reizen van Europa naar Amerika. Dompel u onder in een verhaal vol liefde, verraad, rivaliteit en onverwachte triomfen. Zie hoe personages persoonlijke uitdagingen en belangrijke historische gebeurtenissen doorkruisen en hun lot vormen. De blijvende kracht van familiebanden, ambitie en het nastreven van een eigen nalatenschap vormen de kern van dit boeiende verhaal.
Aanbevolen leesvolgorde
The Sins of the Father
- 339bladzijden
- 12 uur lezen
On the heels of the international bestseller Only Time Will Tell, Jeffrey Archer picks up the sweeping story of the Clifton Chronicles.... Only days before Britain declares war on Germany, Harry Clifton, hoping to escape the consequences of long-buried family secrets, and forced to accept that his desire to marry Emma Barrington will never be fulfilled, has joined the Merchant Navy. But his ship is sunk in the Atlantic by a German U-boat, drowning almost the entire crew. An American cruise liner, the SS Kansas Star, rescues a handful of sailors, among them Harry and the third officer, an American named Tom Bradshaw. When Bradshaw dies in the night, Harry seizes on the chance to escape his tangled past and assumes his identity. But on landing in America, he quickly learns the mistake he has made, when he discovers what is awaiting Bradshaw in New York. Without any way of proving his true identity, Harry Clifton is now chained to a past that could be far worse than the one he had hoped to escape.
Best Kept Secret
- 480bladzijden
- 17 uur lezen
Jeffrey Archer continues his beloved Clifton Chronicle series as Harry and Emma finally begin building a happy life--but a dangerous family enemy is about to resurface "Best Kept Secret" opens a moment after the end of "The Sins of the Father, " with the resolution of the trial and the triumphant marriage of Harry Clifton and Elizabeth Barrington.
Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer's latest installment opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma anxiously awaiting news about their son Sebastian, who has been in a fatal car accident. The question looms: who has died, Sebastian or his best friend Bruno? As events unfold, Emma Clifton seeks to replace Ross Buchanan, who resigns as chairman of Barrington Shipping. However, Don Pedro Martinez plans to install Major Alex Fisher, his puppet, to undermine the Barrington family just as they prepare to launch the luxury liner, the MV Buckingham. Meanwhile, their adopted daughter Jessica wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art, where she falls for fellow student Clive Bingham, who proposes marriage. The families celebrate until Jessica's future mother-in-law, Priscilla, receives a visit from the manipulative Lady Virginia Fenwick, who complicates matters. Unexpectedly, Cedric Hardcastle, a new and unanticipated figure, joins the Barrington board, creating turmoil that will impact both the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle's first major decision—who to support for chairman—sets off a chain of events filled with twists, love, revenge, ambition, and betrayal as the families navigate the challenges of the sixties.
A bomb detonates, leaving the fate of passengers on the MV Buckingham uncertain. Upon arriving in New York, Harry learns from his publisher, Harold Guinzberg, that he has been elected president of English PEN, allowing him to advocate for the release of fellow author Anatoly Babakov, imprisoned in a Russian Gulag for his revealing book about working for Josef Stalin. Harry's commitment to Babakov's cause puts his own life at risk. Meanwhile, Emma Clifton, now Chairman of Barrington Shipping, faces backlash from the IRA bombing of her ship, with some board members urging her resignation while others, including newly elected Sebastian Clifton, support her leadership. Giles Barrington, now a Minister of the Crown, encounters political turmoil following an unsuccessful diplomatic trip to East Germany, exacerbated by Major Alex Fisher's decision to challenge him in the upcoming general election. Sebastian proposes to his girlfriend Samantha, who initially accepts but later withdraws her commitment upon discovering his secretive actions. The narrative culminates in two court trials: a high-profile libel case in London involving Emma and Lady Virginia Fenwick, and a show trial in Russia where Harry is arrested as a spy. Thus unfolds the fifth installment of the Clifton Chronicles.
Cometh the Hour
- 400bladzijden
- 14 uur lezen
Cometh the Hour opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia.Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain. But is Karin truly in love with him, or is she a spy?Lady Virginia is facing bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to the hapless Cyrus T. Grant III from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who's in England to see his horse run at Royal Ascot.Sebastian Clifton is now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank and a workaholic, whose personal life is thrown into disarray when he falls for Priya, a beautiful Indian girl. But her parents have already chosen the man she is going to marry. Meanwhile, Sebastian's rivals Adrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor are still plotting to bring him and his chairman Hakim Bishara down, so they can take over Farthings. Harry Clifton remains determined to get Anatoly Babakov released from a gulag in Siberia, following the international success of his acclaimed book, Uncle Joe. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated.
De Clifton-kronieken - 7: Het einde van een tijdperk
- 400bladzijden
- 14 uur lezen
Tegen de achtergrond van wereldoorlogen, politieke schandalen en maatschappelijke onrust proberen opeenvolgende generaties van de familie Clifton hun weg te vinden. In een verhaal dat decennia en continenten omspant, laat Jeffrey Archer je meeleven met hun lotgevallen en brengt hij op grandioze wijze een voorbij tijdperk tot leven. Het leven lacht Harry en Emma Clifton eindelijk toe: Harry is bezig een boek te schrijven dat zijn magnum opus lijkt te worden, en Emma krijgt van niemand minder dan Margaret Thatcher een wel heel aantrekkelijk aanbod voor een nieuwe baan. Ook met hun zoon Sebastian en zijn vrouw Samantha gaat het goed, hoewel hun eeuwige rivale Lady Virginia nog steeds alles op alles zet om de familie een hak te zetten. Maar dan gebeurt er iets dramatisch dat het leven van de hele Clifton-familie op zijn kop zet…
