More Than You Know

 Book 100 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from December 29 - 31

More Than You Know by Penny Vincenzi

published 2012

Summary (via the book jacket)

A privileged girl from a privileged class, Eliza Clark has a dazzling career - and the sleek Vidal Sassoon-style bob to match - as a fashion editor in 1960s London. High-fashion means a high life, jetting to Paris and Milan to take in the latest by Chanel, Balenciaga, Dior, and Pucci. But when she falls madly in love with Matt Shaw, and edgy working-class boy, and ends up pregnant, she is expected to give up her ritzy, fast-paced lifestyle to get married.

Theirs is an intensely passionate but difficult marriage, the ups and downs of which are further dramatized by their family and friends - a sensational cast of supporting characters seemingly plucked from the pages of 1960s and '70s era magazines. There's Jeremy Northcott, the charming and successful advertising man, not to mention one of Eliza's old flames; Mariella Crespi, the flamboyant Italian fashion icon, a good friend but a constant reminder to Eliza of the life she's given up; Matt's sister, Scarlett, the independent airline hostess whose own romantic troubles are deeply complex; Louise Mullen, Matt's ambitious and sassy business partner fighting for her future in a man's world; and Eliza's delightful brother Charles, who seems hapless when it comes to both love and money.

By the end of the decade, however, Matt and Eliza's marriage has suffered a harrowing breakdown, culminating in divorce and a dramatic courtroom custody battle over their little girl, Emmie. Also at risk is Summercourt, the beautiful and sprawling country home that has been in Eliza's family for generations - now a pawn in the game. 

Vincenzi, writing more vividly and engagingly than ever, deftly maneuvers between the glamorous, moneyed worlds of fashion and advertising, and a heart-wrenching custody battle in the courtroom, where reputations are at stake and the fascinating social mores of the time are on full display. The memorable characters, all of whom have something to gain or lose in the battle, pulse with life in this vibrant, complex, and immensely entertaining saga. Remarkably poignant and propulsive, More Than You Know is about trying to have it all and the twists of fate that happen along the way.

My Opinion

5 stars

It takes skill to write a 589 page book that actually reads quickly and somehow felt too short; it had a full arc but I would've taken a little more epilogue to see how things settled in the following years.

Based on the book jacket I knew certain milestones were going to happen and while it was entertaining, I was waiting for the "meat and potatoes" of the story to begin and it seemed to take awhile.

It felt sweeping and grand but also realistic.  Maybe the resolution was a little unrealistic and out of character but when it makes a happier ending, I'll usually be willing to overlook it.

I'm rating it 5 stars not because it was perfect but because it was engaging and interesting and I'll continue thinking about the characters even after the book is done.