Stairway To The Stars — Barbara Bickmore

Stairway to the Stars is the story of Alexandra Curran, a girl born into unbelievable wealth and social prestige in the early part of the twentieth century. Her status conscious mother wants the one thing America cant offer, royalty. So she manages Alex into a loveless marriage with a member of British royalty who needs money, not only to refurbish the once famous Castle Carlisle, but to live in a lifestyle that impresses the older woman he loves. Based in great part on the actual history of the times and of life in England between the two World Wars, this is the sprawling story of a woman who will make a difference to the whole world and will find fulfillment in ways of which she has never dreamt. It's the story of how a seemingly defeated woman can take hold of life and raise herself and those around her to heroic actions, of how she awakens love in those who thought themselves without love, and of how her actions change the world forever. Yet it is the story of any woman, of a woman who can take charge of her own life when she sees little hope, and carve out for herself a life that affects others, even those thousands whom she never sees. Though there is pain and regret, a sense of hopelessness and despair, Alex little by little reaches out for help and to help, and grows as a result to find a life of reward and hope.