A gem from W. Somerset Maugham.
Up At The Villa was first published in 1941, and although it's a slight story (my paperback was only 119 pages long) it has a powerful impact. Maugham has a gift of writing to the heart of his female characters, and this is a prime example.
Mary Patton has been staying at a Florentine villa owned by her friends the Leonards. Sparsely decorated with fine antiques and noted frescoes, and with terraces overlooking the domes of the city, she lives alone helped by two staff members. Widowed a year earlier, she is about to accept a proposal - Mary is just thirty, and Edgar Swift is an established older man at fifty-three. She asks for a few days to think about it before his returning to a post in India.
Over the weekend she casually dines with society at a party hosted by the Princess San Ferdinando, an American at the centre of Florence society. Another acquaintance at the party is Englishman Rowley Flint whose notorious reputation as a gambler and lover puts Mary off. Just over thirty and somewhat unattractive, he freely admits he can't be trusted. The night includes several seductions from Rowley to the music of a somewhat amateur house band. By the end of the evening, Mary has made it clear she detests Rowley, and although she wishes him well, knows she will never see him after she marries off to India.
On the drive home to the villa, Mary stops to enjoy the night at a lookout. The violinist from the band is also there, and as he emerges from the shadows, a conversation begins. She invites him to the villa for a friendly meal and to see the famous gardens. The evening passes into early morning and, I don't think I will spoil it by saying, he dies in a sudden and shocking way. With no one to turn to for help, and wishing to erase the events as much as possible, she turns to none other than Rowley for help.
Rowley does help her from this point, and it's through soft and subtle turns we learn more about Mary and what future she can create or accept for herself. It's a masterful portrayal of an independent woman.
The novel is quite slight, but packed with emotion and surprise. Easily read in a few hours, I started it while travelling and was finished before the plane landed ~ and I began to read it a second time right away. I then bought a nice 1941 hardcover version.
As I have enjoyed all the Maugham novels I have read, I can't give them a rating out of five or ten. They are all at the top of the list and he has surpassed James Hilton as my favourite classic novelist. Highly recommended.
Up At The Villa was made into a film in 2000 starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sean Penn, with Derek Jacobi, and Anne Bancroft as the Princess.
1941 / Paperback / 119 pages
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