THE LAST LETTERS FROM VILLA CLARA

Author: Sarah Steele

Publisher: Headline

In the art world the finding of ‘lost’ or unknown masters creates massive excitement amongst collectors: provenance being proof of authenticity. But the journey that these works take is nothing short of extraordinary. In ‘The Last Letters from Villa Clara” by Sarah Steele we are on a cleverly executed treasure hunt for such a painting, that unfolds from a Tuscan villa in 1939, to London in the swinging 60s, and the 1980s, bringing together nostalgia, the strength of the human spirit and an enduring love. Spades of characters with spirit and colour, each one drawn as delicately as the artist’s brush on whom the story turns. It’s also a story of righting a wrong, putting the record straight. Add a crooked, pompous, British aristocratic art dealer, a young woman determined to unpack a mystery that only now (the 80s) is she finding out about, a star of British TV, a cheeky East End art thief, a runaway bride, a lively Italian lawyer and love that spans decades and the connections spin a yarn that is mesmerizing. Steele pulls them together in an intriguing, heart-rending and eye-opening story, skillfully knitting clues from past and present to create a story that draws you in.

1989: World renowned artist Bruce Cato is dying – a devasting blow to his niece Phoebe. Spending many summers with him at Villa Clara, he was her surrogate father, opening her eyes to the wonders of art, his brilliance in reproducing Old Masters gaining him worldwide recognition. In the London Cato Museum of Artifice that Phoebe has opened to house his collection she is in danger of losing both. But Bruce has a plan and, while Phoebe mourns his passing, he has set in motion a trail of letters hidden in paintings that will lead her to find the truth. And Villa Clara is hers. The trail will take her back in time to 1939 and the upper crust art dealer Sir Edwin Viner, his secretary/mistress Leonora Birch and the rekindling of the love Cato and Birch had shared at art college. War is looming and paintings packed for London go missing, presumably through a Nazi search. Spin ahead to the swinging 60s and a lowly, boarding house owner attempts to bring down a respected art dealer but the ‘establishment’ steps in to scupper her. Fast forward to the 80s as Phoebe starts her journey and you won’t put the book down until the final breathtaking end. A tightly woven story, easy to read and absorbing.