Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780007223770
ISBN: 0007223773
Label: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: December 04, 2006
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Studio: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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Rating: - Brilliant, could not put it down
This is a cleaver, warm and at times shocking book. There are so many twists and turns that you just don't see coming. She makes the characters warm, likable and best of all believable. This is a rare gem and a must read.

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Rating: - Gentle Mystery
This novel really is a feel good read, the setting is lovely and the characters each with their own demons are the kind of characters you come to care about. The story begins in 1957, when each of four strangers recieve instructions to go to a villa in Italy to recieve a bequest, the deceased, a woman none of them has ever heard of. There are plenty of secrets waiting to be revealed at the villa, as they and the reader slowly begin to discover the secrets that each of the four legetees has, and the ... Read More

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Rating: - Spoilt by the style
The magical effect on four strangers brought together for a month in Italy is a theme previously explored by Elizabeth von Arnim in `The Enchanted April'. The reasons for their being in Italy differ, but the spell cast, and the effect on troubled lives, is similar. In `The Villa in Italy', the contrast with post-war austerity makes the month in the villa all the more magical.

Whilst I first read `The Enchanted April' many years ago and have since re-read it, I would not bother to re-read ... Read More

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Rating: - A charming summer story
I thoroughly enjoyed this old fashioned, friendly, life affirming story. It all worked out in the end as it should if that isn't too much of a spoiler. I read it quickly and happily, immediately passing it to my mother who I knew would enjoy the puzzles, personalities and pictures painted in perfect prose.

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Rating: - What a disappointment!
I bought this book to read on holiday and, had it not been the only novel I took with me, I would not have persevered. The story is all right, and just about worth plodding through, and the flavour suitably Italian, but the style? Oh dear! I found the writing style and use of vocabulary poor and ponderous. Instead of sharing this book with my group of friends, as we generally do with novels we have enjoyed, I left it in a hotel in Italy - not worth bringing home! I shall not be tempted by any other novels ... Read More

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