Nora and her daughters go on holiday to France with their families. But Nora has been keeping a secret and this is the perfect opportunity to reveal the truth. Are they all brave enough to deal with the consequences….?
The Villa is a family drama novel based in a French villa.
Nora has some devastating news as well as secrets from the past but is determined to finally tell her daughters Libby and Emma the truth. The relationships between the women is explored intensely. Things have been strained between them for a long time but the love is never in doubt. The daughters’ husbands throw another dynamic into the drama and adds to the tension.
The pace of the book is quite slow especially at the beginning. The book is written from multiple perspectives and this shows their reactions to the plot developments as well as showing us angles that other characters are not aware of. Nora backtracks and tells her daughters different things so each needs to unravel the truth.
Each of the three women has different vulnerabilities and their personalities are clearly defined through the multiple perspectives. Their unhappiness is portrayed realistically and there is plenty of emotion as the plot progresses. There are twists but these are sad rather than surprising. Nora’s first person perspective is achingly vulnerable and raw.
The Villa is an enjoyable but emotional novel about love within a family and all the dramas that lead from those relationships.
One perfect family. Two weeks in the sun. A secret that will tear them apart.
Nora just wanted some time with her daughters, away from everything, in the stunning stone villa under the heat of the French sun. Lazy days by the pool, freckles appearing on tanned cheeks, laughter over cocktails on the terrace. She’s so proud of her girls. They might have their differences, but they’ve grown into confident, independent young women, with their own way of seeing things.
But when Nora gathers everyone around the table on that first night, she realises it’s time to tell them. And as she tops up her wine, her hand shakes. She knows nothing could have prepared them for what she’s about to say. But what she doesn’t know, is that hers is not the only secret…
A heartbreaking and totally addictive page-turner about motherhood at its best, and its worst, and the lies we tell to protect the ones we love. Anyone who adores Liane Moriarty, Jodi Picoult and Kerry Fisher will stay up all night reading.
Author Bio
Clare lives with her husband and their two daughters in Surrey, where her little green shed at the bottom of the garden provides a haven for her writing life. Before becoming a writer, she enjoyed a career in television, as a researcher in documentaries and then as a script editor in drama at the BBC and Channel Four, where her love of storytelling took hold.
