The Villa in Italy - Hardcover

Elizabeth Edmondson

3.89

6,404 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007228058 ISBN 13: 9780007228058

Publisher: HARPERCOLLINS, 2006

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Marvellously atmospheric tale of strangers summoned to a grand but neglected villa on the Italian coast. Each of them has been named in a will, but nobody knows their benefactress....

Four very different people are named in a will. Delia, an opera singer robbed of her voice by illness; George, an idealistic scientist who cannot face what his skills have created; Marjorie, desperately poor and unable to dislodge her writer’s block; and Lucius, ostensibly in control but whose personal life is in chaos. All are summoned to the Villa Dante, home of the late Beatrice Malaspina. But who was she?

While they wait to find out, the villa begins to work its seductive magic. With its faded frescoes, overgrown garden, and magnificent mediaeval tower, it is unlike anywhere they have been before.

Slowly four characters who have gone to great lengths to hide their troubles find that change—and even hope—is possible after all. But the mysterious Beatrice has a devastating secret to reveal that will affect them all....

A beautiful evocation of Italy in the aftermath of World War Two and the personal consequences of living through such a time and a celebration of humankind’s ability to heal and learn to love again, this most absorbing novel will win Elizabeth Edmondson a host of new fans.

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About the Author:

Elizabeth Edmondson (1948–2016) was born in Chile, educated in Calcutta, London and Oxford, and worked in EFL publishing before turning her hand to writing novels. She had more than thirty books published in a variety of genres, but her lifelong preoccupation was on the one hand with English manners and eccentricities, and on the other with the conflicts of the thirties, the Cold War and espionage, in all of which her family had been involved. The Very English Mysteries, her last series, brought all of these preoccupations together in stories of the fictional cathedral city of Selchester, full of spies, gossip and goings-on. A lifelong nomad, she lived in five countries and six English counties, founded a youth orchestra, rode horses, rang bells, enjoyed Baroque music and was never without an enormous collection of books, a wardrobe of sleek clothes, and the latest gadgets. A Matter Of Loyalty, left unfinished at her death in January 2016, has been finished by her son, Anselm Audley, also a published novelist. Anselm Audley is a fourth-generation writer whose antecedents include authors, linguists, spies and even a dictator. He grew up chiefly in cathedrals, lived in an assortment of historic English towns and landscapes, and was educated at Oxford and the British School at Rome. His passions are stories, landscapes and the past, with honourable mentions for making music, ringing bells and sailing the ocean blue. He now lives in yet another cathedral city. Anselm is the author of four fantasy novels with a historical twist. More recently, he has written three non-fiction Kindle Singles, combining storytelling with historical understanding to bring the real predicaments of historical figures to life. He also worked as editor and informal story consultant on the two previous books in the Very English Mysteries series.

Review:

`This book's great for escaping the cold UK winter' Closer `Enthralling...this is an enchanting read from start to finish.' Woman `Deeply satisfying...rich and compelling. The perfect read' Oxford Times Praise for Voyage of Innocence:`I loved it.' Woman `A very interesting book, not only because it gives a flavour of life in the thirties...it's a way of imbibing history.' Oxford Times `Well written and superbly researched...a thoroughly enjoyable read. A must.' Yours Praise for The Frozen Lake:`Charming.' The Bookseller `Dark family secrets, long buried,if not forgotten, bubble to the surface. A novel that is vivid and engrossing.' Choice `An intriguing read.' Woman

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