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Last Voyage of the Valentina
 
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Last Voyage of the Valentina (Paperback)

by Santa Montefiore (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £5.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Last Voyage of the Valentina + The Gypsy Madonna + Sea of Lost Love
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  • This item: Last Voyage of the Valentina by Santa Montefiore

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Product details

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks (10 Oct 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340836539
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340836538
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 101,799 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

New Woman
'Enough bedroom bangs to keep the pulse racing.'

Review
'Written with finesse and page-turning energy.' (Kirkus Reviews )

'Santa Montefiore brilliantly captures the intrigue and skulduggery of a country at war in a very absorbing romance.' (Red )

'The novel is a triumph . . . Santa allows us to hear all her characters speak, ensuring we form immediate bonds with them' (Writing Magazine )

'A thrilling dark romance' (Italy )

'If you're a fan of the old-fashioned blockbuster and are fond of a little Rosamunde Pilcher-style nostalgia, this is just the ticket.' (Glamour )

'Oh the exotic, dramatic romance of it all. Santa Montefiore writes with true style and passion, her characters overflowing with emotion, her plots thick with intrigue and betrayal. Ladies, take the phone off the hook and settle down with 400 pages of blissful escapism.' (Shari Low, Scottish Daily Record )

'Enough bedroom bangs to keep the pulse racing.' (New Woman )

'Santa Montefiore's world of Italian peasants and partisans, Nazis and aristocrats is flamboyant and suspenseful. Anyone who likes Joanna Harris or Mary Wesley will love Montefiore's atmospheric sixth romance.' (Mail on Sunday )

'Santa Montefiore is a superb storyteller of love and death in romantic places in fascinating times . . . Last Voyage of the Valentina is a passionate, page-turning life journey and a dark mystery that sweeps from war-torn, Mafia-infested Italy to aristocratic 1960s London'

(Plum Sykes (author of Bergdorf Blondes) )

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Last Voyage of the Valentina
64% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Promises! Promises!, 23 Jul 2007
By F. S. L'hoir (Irvine, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Last Voyage of the Valentina (Paperback)
The cover of this book promised a "dark mystery" that would sweep me from "war-torn Italy to aristocratic 1960s London." [1970s actually!] Since, however, the characters are unpleasant, the settings are charmless, and the situations are not only unlikely but also reminiscent of twice-viewed (and better-told) Italian films, I was swept off to sleep.

In turgid prose [The words "her strange eyes" recur at least four times], the author relates the story of Alba Arbuckle, who is constantly wriggling about in Mary Quant mini-skirts and flashing her knickers (or lack of them) at local vicars and anyone else who happens to enter her orbit. One day, after a steamy session of casual love-in-the-afternoon, Alba discovers a scroll under her bed [Where else?]. It is a pastel drawing of her long-dead mother, and it is inscribed by her father [in bad Latin: "dum spiro, ti amo"-- "Amo" takes the accusative "te" in Latin.]. This plot device sends Alba on a quest to discover the secret of her past (She should have stood in bed!).

As a lover of Italy, I was hoping that the flashbacks set in a mythical town "Incantellaria" on the Amalfi Coast, would be worth persuing. I was disappointed. We have olive and cypress trees, purple wisteria, noisy cicadas--pasta with "fish sauce," even (117), and the beauteous Valentina, who, of course, wears a semitransparent dress and walks like a duck: "her feet turning outward, she held her stomach in, pushed her bottom out, and swung her hips" (112). Valentina, Alba's mother, is identified by the scent of figs, making me wonder if the author has ever stood in a grove of fig trees, which give off a strong smell that recalls uric acid.

I suppose I should have been warned by the words "old-fashioned blockbuster" in the blurb on the back of the book, but I was seduced by "the olive groves of the Amalfi coast," an enchanted setting, which, now that I think about it, is noted not for its olives but for its lemons.

Limoncello, anyone?
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15 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Last Voyage of the Valentina is unputdownable!, 25 Oct 2005
By A Customer
It's the best book I've read for a very long time. It's based on the Amalfi Coast in Italy at the end of WWII and in London's swinging sixties, and is full of skulduggery and romance, murder and betrayal. A fast paced read with lots of twist and turns and surprises. When you think you know it all, another revelation pops up to make you rethink the beginning of the book. It's charmingly written too. Full of eccentric characters you'll grow to love. A perfect escape for a rainy weekend or holiday on the beach. I've read all Montefiores books and would recommend them very highly.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Oh! What a Tangled Web We Weave ........, 3 Dec 2007
By Lotus Eater "Leyla" (Izmir, Turkey) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Last Voyage of the Valentina (Hardcover)
Romantic and improbable! When Alba took herself off to the Amalfi coast in an attempt to gain some knowledge of her dead mother, I hoped the author was going to transport me back there, so I could feel the essence of a place that I know quite well. Unfortunately it just didn't happen. Even the atmosphere of England in the 'Swinging Sixties' didn't seem to ring true (and I was there!). This is my first Santa Montefiore novel, I just hope that her others are better! OK for a beach read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars jules
great delivery-very quick, good condition of book, apologies for late review, i submitted a review2-3 weeks ago and didnt realise it hadnt gone through
Published 1 month ago by Ms. J. K. Whiffen

3.0 out of 5 stars Romantic Escapism
I am not surprisingly, considering where I currently live, drawn to novels set in Italy. This turned out to be not as atmospheric as one might have hoped, but it was still a... Read more
Published 9 months ago by LindyLouMac

5.0 out of 5 stars Exotic, magical and evocative - perfect for summer
Alba has never fit in with her family. Her Italian mother died when she was a baby and her father brought her home to England, where she has grown up surrounded by dull... Read more
Published 10 months ago by E. Potten

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down.
I heard the audio version of this story and throroughly enjoyed it. I am unfamiliar with Santa Montefoire's work but I couldnt wait for the next chapter! Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mrs. Rj Phillips

1.0 out of 5 stars Glad I bought it secondhand from a local charity shop
At least that way somebody benefitted from the purchase, as it certainly wasn't me! Mindless, improbable but predictable drivel. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sophie

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a flat style but a reasonable read
This is the 4th of Santa Montefiore's books that I have read and I certainly enjoyed it.
It didn't quite capture the atmosphere of "Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree" or "The... Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2006 by MaryAnne

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a flat style but a reasonable read.
This is the 4th of Santa Montefiore's books that I have read and I certainly enjoyed it.
It didn't quite capture the atmosphere of "Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree" or "The... Read more
Published on 3 May 2006 by MaryAnne

1.0 out of 5 stars Barbara Cartland goes to Chiantishire
Well the Amalfi coast, actually, but authenticity is not really an issue here. What is an issue is the waste of money this artless dollop of period romance represents. Read more
Published on 23 Jul 2005

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