Дамата с карамфилите

Catherine Lorimer, who deals in antique items, is a successful woman in a profession practiced mostly by men. But business is at a standstill, and she takes a risky step. After a frantic bidding at auction, she buys Holbein's famous miniature "The Lady with the Carnations", which she will sell to a wealthy American collector. Yet a feeling of loneliness somewhat mars her joy. Still, her usual reserve helps her not to reveal her fears and to reject the man who has long been proposing marriage. For contrast, her niece Nancy is an expansive beauty determined to become a theater star and bold enough to happen to tell Catherine about her engagement to a mysterious American.

The three of them, with Nancy's fiancé, take a ship to New York, where Catherine hopes to sell the miniature, and her niece to shine in a Broadway production. But something occurs during the ocean trip that will irreversibly change their fates.

A delightfully delicate novel, a modern fairy tale about duty and self-sacrifice, about the great love that comes only once in a lifetime.