The Mermaid Garden - Hardcover

Montefiore, Santa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1451624301 ISBN 13: 9781451624304

Publisher: Touchstone Books, 2011

Synopsis

The internationally bestselling authorof The French Gardener presentsa complex and irresistibly compelling novel that confirms the remarkablepower of love to heal and transform.

Ten-year-old Floriana is captivated by the beauty of the magnificent Tuscan villa that overlooks the sea just outside her small village. She likes to spy from the crumbling wall into the gardens and imagine that one day she’ll escape her meager existence and live there surrounded by its otherworldly splendor. Then one day Dante, the son of the villa’s powerful industrialist owner, invites her inside and shows her the enchanting Mermaid Garden. From that moment, Floriana knows that the only destiny for her is there, in that garden, with Dante. But as they grow up and fall in love, their romance causes a crisis, jeopardizing the very thing they hold most dear.

Decades later and hundreds of miles away, a beau-tiful old country house hotel on England’s Devon coast has fallen on hard times after the financial crash of 2008. Its owner, Marina, advertises for an artist to stay the summer and teach the guests how to paint. The man she hires is charismatic and wise and soon begins to pacify the discord in her family and transform the fortunes of the hotel. However, he has his own agenda. Is it to destroy, to seduce, or to heal? Whatever his intentions, he is certain to change Marina’s life forever.

Spanning four decades and sweeping from the Italian countryside to the English coast, this new story by Santa Montefiore is a moving and mysterious tale of love, forgiveness, and the past revealed.

About this title

Review:

"Santa Montefiore is a superb storyteller....Her plots are sensual, sensitive and complex: her characters are unforgettable life forces: her love stories are desperate yet uplifting . One laughs as much as one cries." --Plum Sykes, author of "The Debutante Divorcee"

"Epic in scope and emotion, but also brilliantly observant and truthful...surprising, moving, and skillful." --Elizabeth Buchan, author of "Separate Beds "

"Montefiore is a grand storyteller. Her near-lyrical descriptive prose is appealing on its own; the plot is involving on multiple levels, crossing several genres; and her characters step well beyond formula. All in all, a fine way for American readers to get to know the Montefiore name, which will very soon be cropping up in the same sentences as the name Maeve Binchy."" --Booklist, "starred review"

"Two stories, two generations, and two beautiful European locales are neatly gift-wrapped into one sumptuous tale of love, loss, and redemption. . . . Luxurious and romantic depictions of scenic Tuscany and the beautiful English coast." -- Publishers Weekly

"Like her countrywomen Barbara Taylor Bradford and Penny Vincenzi, Montefiore excels at juxtaposing the opulent with the ordinary in delicately woven tales that seamlessly traverse borders and span decades." --"Booklist"""

"An absorbing plot." -Kirkus Reviews

""The Mermaid Garden" has it all: secrets, mystery, passionate love affairs fueled by drama and determined by fate, and the grace notes of fairytales- evil stepmothers, cranky stepdaughters, and redemption in the wake of understanding in the hands of the great painter Rafa Santoro. Santa Montefiore is a wonder, you will not be able to put this novel down. Unforgettable!" --Adriana Trigiani, author of "Brava, Valentine"

"Montefiore has written another lovely fairy tale for grown-ups. . . . Fans of women's fiction will be moved by the characters and eager to find out what happens to them. Lush descriptions of gardens in Tuscany and Devon add to the novel's charm." --"Library Journal"

"Montefiore is a grand storyteller."

-- Emily Melton, "Booklist"

"Montefiore is a grand storyteller."
-- Emily Melton, "Booklist"

"Montefiore is a grand storyteller."
-- Emily Melton, Booklist

"Montefiore is a grand storyteller."

-- Emily Melton, Booklist

Book Description:

NOTE: The House By the Sea(1849831068) and The Mermaid Garden( 1451628935) are same books with the different titles.

About this edition

• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1451624301
• ISBN 13: 9781451624304
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 418