Easter at the Villa Victoria

2016 | Fiction & Poetry

It is 1995 and the Morton-Stewarts assemble at the 'Villa Victoria' in Antibes, which has been in their family since 1880. The purpose of the gathering is to discuss the future of the house and of the two elderly aunts who, apart from their internment during the war, have lived there all their lives. Isolated from the social change around them, they run the villa like an Irish country house, ignoring the fact that 'The Season' has changed from winter to summer and that the society in which they were brought up no longer exists. As Frances, their great-niece, observes: 'They are living a 1920s lifestyle in the 1990s, and if they can no longer afford it, surely we must do something about it!' For Charlie, the current owner of the house, it is a time to review the principles and prejudices which have governed his life so far and to question their morality and relevance in today's world. For Sylvia, the widow of James, Charlie's 'black sheep' brother, and her daughter Emma, it is a time of anxiety; Sylvia was a barmaid who 'trapped' James and was the cause of his disinheritance many years ago. She has been ostracised by the family for twenty years; how will they react to her now?

Seduced by the glory of a Riviera spring and surrounded by the memorabilia and traditions of a century of occupation, the family settle down and start getting to know each other - quite unprepared for the momentous revelations that are to come...Easter at the Villa Victoria is a romantic, character-driven novel, full of humour and set in the 1990s. It will primarily appeal to female readers.

Iain Gordon (Author)