Jessica's early days were spent in the shadow of Oakland Hall, her family's ancestral home which, owing to financial difficulties, they had been obliged to sell to the rumbustious opal miner, Ben Henniker. Jessica learned that there was a certain mystery surrounding her when she discovered an unconsecrated grave near the house. From the garrulous, irrepressible Ben, she heard the legend of the Green Flash at Sunset, the unique opal reckoned to be the most beautiful in the world, which had disappeared after Ben had shown it to a group of colleagues. Gradually she learned that she was involved in the mystery. Through Ben, she left England for Australia and found herself in the midst of the opal mining community, at the head of which was Joss Madden, a man of power and such pride that he was compared with the peacocks after which Ben had named his Australian mansion. Forced into a marriage distasteful to her, Jessica was caught up in the search for the famous opal which was said to bring ill luck to all those who owned it, yet men committed crimes in order ot possess it. The story is told by Jessica against the dignified background of English country life and the colourful, vital opal mining society of New South Wales. There were the mischievous and not too scrupulous Ben who owned the famous opal; Mrs Laud, the unobtrusive housekeeper who had played a significant part in Ben's life; her quiet son and daughter; the alluring Isa and her complaisant husband; and at the centre of the scene was Joss Madden, the adventurer who, it appeared, would stop at nothing to satisfy his immense pride and love of power. The tension increased with every new discovery until Jessica realized that more was involved than the search for a lost opal and that her own life was threatened.
Used availability for Jean Plaidy's The Pride of the Peacock
Hardback Editions
January 1990 : UK Hardback

Title: Pride of the Peacock (Windsor Selections)
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-86220-335-X / 978-0-86220-335-1 (UK edition)
Publisher: Chivers Press
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Title: The Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 2830202511 / 978-2830202519
Publisher: Heron Books
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Amazon UK June 1977 : UK Hardback
Title: Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-86043-059-6 / 978-0-86043-059-9 (UK edition)
Publisher: Imprint unknown
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA June 1977 : USA Hardback

Title: The Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-8161-6455-X / 978-0-8161-6455-4 (USA edition)
Publisher: G. K. Hall
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA September 1976 : UK Hardback

Title: The Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-00-221670-1 / 978-0-00-221670-8 (UK edition)
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA August 1976 : USA Hardback

Title: The Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Eleanor Hibbert, Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr
ISBN: 0-385-12281-0 / 978-0-385-12281-8 (USA edition)
Publisher: Doubleday
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January 2014 : USA Paperback

Title: The Pride of the Peacock (Casablanca Classics)
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 1-4022-7746-6 / 978-1-4022-7746-7 (USA edition)
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
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Title: Pride of the Peacock (Paragon Softcover Large Print Books)
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-7451-3210-3 / 978-0-7451-3210-5 (UK edition)
Publisher: Chivers Large print (Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & C
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA October 1986 : USA Mass Market Paperback

Title: The Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-449-21352-8 / 978-0-449-21352-0 (USA edition)
Publisher: Fawcett
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA July 1977 : USA Mass Market Paperback

Title: Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-449-20493-6 / 978-0-449-20493-1 (USA edition)
Publisher: Fawcett
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA March 1982 : USA Mass Market Paperback

Title: Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-449-24113-0 / 978-0-449-24113-4 (USA edition)
Publisher: Fawcett
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA February 1982 : UK Paperback

Title: The Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-00-616488-9 / 978-0-00-616488-3 (UK edition)
Publisher: Fontana Press
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA April 1978 : UK Paperback

Title: Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-00-615179-5 / 978-0-00-615179-1 (UK edition)
Publisher: HarperCollins Distribution Services
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Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA April 1977 : USA Mass Market Paperback

Title: The Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-449-23198-4 / 978-0-449-23198-2 (USA edition)
Publisher: Fawcett
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Title: Pride of the Peacock, The
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-00-614591-4 / 978-0-00-614591-2 (UK edition)
Publisher: Fontana / Collins
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April 1991 : USA Audio Cassette

Title: The Pride of the Peacock
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-8161-9570-6 / 978-0-8161-9570-1 (USA edition)
Publisher: G K Hall Audio Books
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Title: The Pride of the Peacock: Complete & Unabridged
Author(s): Victoria Holt
ISBN: 0-7451-6033-6 / 978-0-7451-6033-7 (UK edition)
Publisher: Chivers Audio Books
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January 2014 : USA, Canada, UK Kindle edition

Title: The Pride of the Peacock (Casablanca Classics)
Author(s): Victoria Holt
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
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