The Art of Love

The Art of Love
Elizabeth Edmondson

*Now also published as The Villa on the Riviera*The French Riviera is the setting for this absorbing tale of family intrigue, scandal and romance, against the glamorous background of 1930s artists and aristocracy.Polly Smith is struggling to make a living as an artist when her friend and patron, Oliver, invites her to his father’s house in the south of France. Thrilled to escape cold, wet London, Polly asks for her birth certificate to obtain a passport - an act which unexpectedly turns her world upside down. For her mother is in fact her aunt; her father is unknown; even her name isn’t right.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.But even as Polly finds herself immersed in a web of suspicion and deception, her own future begins to take on a new and fascinating shape…The perfect read 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.

ELIZABETH EDMONDSON

The Art of Love

COPYRIGHT

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2008

Copyright © AEB Ltd

Elizabeth Edmondson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780007223787

Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2008 ISBN: 9780007283705

Version: 2016-12-28

DEDICATION

For Rosie Buckman

With love and gratitude

CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

PART ONE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR