Sea of Lost Love

by Santa Montefiore

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Celestria always spends her summer holiday at Pendrift Hall, the rambling, shabby Cornish mansion adorned with wisteria and clematis that has been home to the Montague family for generations. In the summer of 1958, the highlight is a lavish ball in honour of Archie Montague's fiftieth birthday, and the beautiful girl, on the cusp of womanhood, is looking forward to practising her flirtation skills on the Wilmotte boys. But what is supposed to be a night of celebration ends in catastrophe. As show more a result, Celestria's grandfather encourages her to play detective, to seek out an explanation for the bewildering events. The quest takes her to the heel of Italy, to the rugged beauty of Puglia and the cool cloisters of the Convento di Santa Maria del Mare. Here Celestria meets an enigmatic stranger and confronts unwelcome truths about her family -- and about herself. show less

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5 reviews
I picked up an advanced reader copy of this at work. It's not my normal thing, which I could tell right away, but Ipushed on anyway. It wasn't awful, necessarily -- just very predictable. Whether it was the fate of the main character's father, the love stories, the twists, what-have-you; every plot point was quite easy to guess.

I thought the style was Noel Barber-lite; it lacked the historical depth and epic quality, but it there was something about it which felt similar. The romance of this book was extremely cringe-worthy, in my opinion, but not off-putting enough to make me stop reading it.

I did like the female characters though. They were flawed, not the complete caricatures they could've been, yet you empathized with them. That show more helped the book, in my opinion. Also, for as much as it wasn't my normal thing, I could not help but get sucked into it.

Overall, it's something to read if you just want something extremely light.
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Book 221 Santa Montefiore. Sea of Lost Love. Sister of Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, friends of Charles and Camilla... Yet I had never heard of her till I found this book on my bookshelf (from where?). I read it in 4 days (as most of you know Peter has tested positive for Covid) so had 4 unexpected days of being at home. I surprised myself at enjoying a romantic book about a selfish socialite who's mother eventually finds God... On paper it shouldn't have been my cup of tea? Free to a good home. 7/10
Een heerlijk romantisch verhaal, dat zich deels in Cornwall en deels in Puglia (Italië) afspeelt. Er zit natuurlijk ook een vleugje spanning in. Dat maakt het ook wel interessant om te lezen. Geen hoogstandje maar een lekker ZZZ (Zwoel Zomer Zwijmel)- boek.
½
Zomer 1958. Een rijke, aristocratische familie geniet van een idyllische vakantie. Hun geluk wordt echter verstoord door een bizar en mysterieus sterfgeval. Het breekt het hart van de jonge Celestria Montague en maakt een abrupt einde aan haar dromen.
Aangemoedigd door haar grootvader gaat Celestria op onderzoek uit. Haar zoektocht leidt haar langs de ruige kust van Zuid-Italië, waar Celestria's geloof in haar familie én in de liefde zwaar op de proef wordt gesteld, tot ze de man ontmoet die haar leert dat de waarheid de kern van alle liefde is...

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Books Set in Italy
167 works; 19 members

Author Information

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66+ Works 5,876 Members
Santa Montefiore was born in 1970 in England. She read Soanish ans Italian at Exeter University. After a year teaching English on an Argentine estancia, she spent most of the nineties in Buenos Aires. She has written several novels including The Butterfly Box and The Sea of Lost Love. She also writes the series Deverill Chronicles and Royal show more Rabbits of London. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Sea of Lost Love
Original title
Sea of Lost Love
Original publication date
2007
People/Characters*
Celestria Montague
Important places*
Cornwall, Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk; Italië
Dedication*
Voor mijn broer James, met liefde
First words*
Toen vader Miles Dalgliesh de oprijlaan op fietste naar het huis van de familie Montague, Pendrift Hall, keek hij met genoegen naar de gouden zon die door de limoenbomen heen filterde en dansende lichtvlekjes wierp op de stee... (show all)ntjes en de varens die ze omzoomden, en liet hij zijn bebrilde ogen over de weelderige weiden vol lichtbruine koeien dwalen.
Last words*
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Hij had ze nog niet gelezen, of er spoelde een grote golf het strand op die de woorden wegwaste.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Romance
DDC/MDS
823.92Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-2000-
LCC
PR6113 .O544 .S43Language and LiteratureEnglishEnglish Literature2001-
BISAC

Statistics

Members
224
Popularity
144,293
Reviews
5
Rating
½ (3.46)
Languages
Dutch, English, Estonian, German
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
31
ASINs
4