Thurston is an American working as a lecturer in Brighton. His life is thrown into turmoil when his lover mysteriously vanishes just days after his proposal. She eventually returns, only to vanish completely just weeks before the wedding.
Seeking explanations from her family and friends he goes on a harrowing journey back to Brighton and her hometown Budapest, where he discovers the shocking truth of her double life, shaking the foundations of his existence and forcing him to reconsider whether it is possible to ever truly know or trust anyone, including himself The Lipstick Empire is a tragic story of love thrown away on those who don't deserve it, like Fiesta, the Sun Also Rises or The Great Gatsby. Written with a strong sense of place, it combines the psychological insight of Proust with the philosophical vision of Beckett by turning the quest to win over a woman's heart into an exploration of the darkest regions of the human spirit. The Lipstick Empire is the last of the Andrassy Ut. Trilogy, a collection of thematically linked novels with different characters and settings, including The Forest and The Mountain.