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Villa on the Riviera

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Villa on the Riviera

By: Elizabeth Edmondson
Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
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About this listen

Absorbing and escapist, The Villa on the Riviera is perfect summer listening for fans of Rachel Hore and Santa Montefiore.

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 Riviera, Polly finds that the serenity and sunshine brings her art to life as never before. But all is not well in the grand house. Oliver's father was forced to leave England in a cloud of scandal and his past is about to catch up with him. And Polly's own future begins to take on a new and fascinating shape....

The perfect listen for fans of The Villa and Summer's Child, this is a beguiling and evocative tale that will transport you away to the Riviera itself.

©2015 Elzabeth Edmondson (P)2015 Audible, Ltd Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Urban Women's Fiction
All stars
Most relevant  
easy listening, almost calming.
characters all interesting.
plot good, mystery.
Interested to find out if it is true about repainting paintings

Enjoyed.

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Ideal to listen to as I did not lose track of story and I could picture where it was happening

A. Good listen

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Polly is her ‘mother’s’ sister’s daughter.
She was unaware, until she tried to get her birth certificate and a passport.
She was to marry Roger Harrington. Roger’s family is a generational family of doctors.
Polly is an artist and has misgivings about Her marriage to Roger.
An unexpected invite to spend 6 weeks in the south of France proves a huge temptation to Polly.
Despite her poverty, she manages to scrape enough together, to make the trip.
The best and most enlightening part of the story occurs on this holiday.

Family secrets

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Breathtaking story with unexpected twists and turns. I couln't stop listening. Very well read. I highly recommend it.

Breathtaking story

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I have found Elizabeth Edmondson’s first two novels in this series charming and engrossing. Just enough of the thriller to provide gravitas and dramatise the historical period, but not so much that it loses the charm of a travel writer enamoured with a visit to a glamorous foreign location. Great characters that I very much empathised with.

Charming and moving

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I found the story difficult to follow in some parts as it jumps around quite a bit

Good story, but the writing didn’t flow

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Loved it. Will look for other books by this author. The voices were very realistic and matched the story well.

Thoroughly enjoyable

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I couldn’t put it down. It’s a really really good read. Nicolette McKenzie has such a wide range of characters in her voice. I loved her.

Totally absorbing

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Fun, slightly tense and exciting, just a good distraction and fun to listen to. Well performed overall .

A great distraction

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Normally I don't bother with books of romantic drama, unless they're classics, however I thought I'd give this audiobook a shot because it was free with my Audible subscription and it was about an artist, and I'm an artist. I wanted to see what the book would have to say about art and the artist's struggle, while hopefully providing some healthy escapism.
In my mind I was expecting a fairly predictable plot, hoping that any romance wouldn't be too cheesy, and that the art stuff would be relatable. I was very pleasantly surprised when I discovered Elizabeth Edmondson's writing to be intelligent, witty and well crafted, with fascinating characters and an immersive, believable story. The information about art and practices of the period had me so intrigued at times that I had to stop and Google more information on certain topics, all of which were seamlessly woven into the plot. The narration by Nicolette McKenzie was great.
All in all, this book provided enjoyable escapism wrapped in a tidy but intriguing plot with all the loose threads tied up neatly at the end to my satisfaction.

Pleasantly Surprised Me

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