A novel of family secrets hidden through two generations, set against the stunning backdrop of the Lake District in midwinter. From the author of The Villa in Italy.One family Christmas uncovers two generations of secrets…The year of 1936 is drawing to a close. Winter grips Wetmoreland and causes a rare phenonmenon: the lakes freeze. For two local families, the Richardsons and the Grindleys, the frozen lake entices long-estranged siblings and children to return home for Christmas.Some are aware...
Be swept away by The Villa in Italy, the perfect escapist readFour very different people are named in a will. 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 and magnificent mediaeval tower, it’s 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...
*PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS The Art of Love*Absorbing and escapist, The Villa on the Riviera is perfect summer reading for fans of Santa Montefiore and Rachel Hore.Polly Smith is struggling to make a living as an artist when her friend and patron, Oliver, invites her to the south of France. But her world is unexpectedly turned upside down when she digs out her birth certificate to apply for a passport. Her parents are not who she believed them to be – even her name is different.Fleeing to the...
From the author of THE FROZEN LAKE comes an enthralling novel of love, betrayal and idealism, as three very different young women go up to Oxford in the years immediately before World War Two.Vee – the clergyman’s daughter. Boyish, alluring, she plans to use her time at Oxford to put right everything that went wrong in her loveless childhood. Her friendship with Alfred introduces her to politics and the subversive attractions of secret societies; it will lead to her career as a secret agent, but...
*Now also published as The Villa on the Riviera*The French Riviera is the setting for this absorbing tale of family intrigue, scandal and romance, against the glamorous background of 1930s artists and aristocracy.Polly Smith is struggling to make a living as an artist when her friend and patron, Oliver, invites her to his father’s house in the south of France. Thrilled to escape cold, wet London, Polly asks for her birth certificate to obtain a passport – an act which unexpectedly turns her...