Four different people are named in a will - Delia, an opera singer robbed
of her voice by illness; George, an idealistic scientist; Marjorie, desperately
poor and unable to dislodge her writer's block; and Lucius, whose personal life
is in chaos. This is a tale of four strangers summoned to a grand but neglected
villa on the Italian coast.This is a marvellously atmospheric tale of four strangers summoned to a
grand but neglected villa on the Italian coast. Each of them has been named in
a will, but not one of them 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, 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.
