Barbara Taylor Bradford takes her legendary storytelling to an exciting new level in this stunning， suspenseful tale about a young woman whose life is shattered by an unspeakable crime. Seventeen-year-old Katie Byrne stands shivering in the cold Connecticut woods， her flashlight illuminating a scene out of a nightmare. Carly， one of her two closest friends， lies beaten and unconscious， her face covered in blood. Moments later， the horror escalates when Katie s brother discovers the lifeless body of Denise， the third member of their inseparable trio. Nearby is the old barn where only hours before the three girls joyfully rehearsed Shakespearean speeches for an upcoming school performance. For Katie， who returned to the makeshift theatre to retrieve schoolbooks she had forgotten in her haste to get home early， the tragedy marks the end of a long-shared dream. The girls began acting together as ten-year olds with stars in their eyes， fantasizing about the day they would all move to New York and take Broadway by storm. Now， only Katie can realize the dream. Ten years later， Katie， a tall， lanky beauty with reddish-gold hair， is a struggling actress in New York. Haunted by the memory of Denise s death and by thoughts of Carly， who still lies in a coma， she longs for the fame and celebrity they imagined together so long before. After an acclaimed performance Katie finally wins a starring role on Broadway and begins a promising love affair. But before she can step into the spotlight， Katie must escape the dark shadows of the past. In sixteen previous bestselling novels， Barbara Taylor Bradford has enthralled millions of readers with page-turning plots and characters that linger in the heart and mind long after the book is closed. In The Triumph of Katie Byrne， romance， the theatre， and murder and mystery from the past all collide in a tale that will keep readers spellbound until the very last page.