Envy - Tapa dura

What happens when your beloved only daughter's friend turns out to be a destructive cuckoo in the nest? When girlish charm turns to seduction and teenage friendship to manipulation. How can just one teenage girl wreak havoc on a decent, loving household? "Envy" is a uniquely absorbing novel focusing on two teenage girls: Isabel the charmed, golden daughter of a wealthy, devoted daddy, and Diane, whose bitter, downtrodden mother lives on a rented cottage on Isabel's family's land. They become friends and Diane, our compelling narrator, driven by her loveless childhood and terrible envy, manoeuvres her way into the family, and slowly begins to break them apart. Running through this suspenseful, shocking novel, are undertones of heat, sexuality and betrayal. After her highly acclaimed account of life in a medieval castle, "Envy" shows Judy Corbett to be a novelist of unusual precision and style - a distinctive writer who reveals the malice in youth and the destructiveness of love. "Envy" is a powerful, gripping read and darkly enjoyable twist on the coming of age novel.

Judy Corbett trained as an antiquarian book-binder and lives in a medieval castle in the foothills of Snowdonia. The castle was restored and transformed into a home by Judy and her husband. Castles in the Air is the much praised account of their experiences. Envy is Judy's first novel.