Last Voyage of the Valentina

by Santa Montefiore

Alba always feels like an outsider. She hardly knew her Italian mother and her English father acts as if Valentina never existed. She despises country life almost as much as she despises her stepmother and stepsisters. On board the houseboat named after her dead mother, Alba's life is little more than a selfish search for fun and pleasure. But the discovery of her mother's portrait sends the girl back to Italy to find her family - and the truth about Valentina. Amid the olive groves of the Amalfi coast, its balmy air rich with the scent of figs, a tale of deception and betrayal is waiting to be discovered. It is a tale that takes Alba into the past - but also gives her a new future.

• ISBN10: 0340830875
• ISBN13: 9780340830871
• Publish Date: 31 December 1999
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 19 October 2006
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Eve1972]

I have been a big fan of Santa Montefiore's books for awhile now and her novels set in South America are some of the best I have read, so I looked forward to this one with much anticipation, alas it just did not live up to her other novels. The characters were unlikeable, the plot predictable and the ending confusing! If you are thinking of trying this author definitely try "Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree", "The Butterfly Box" or "The Forget-me-not Sonata".