Elizabeth Edmondson - The Art of Love

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 get a passport. Her world changes. Her mother is in fact her aunt; her father is unknown; even her name isn′t right.
Fleeing to the Riviera, Polly finds the serenity and sunshine bring her painting 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 despite the sophisticated, cosmopolitan crowd of friends with which he has surrounded himself, his past is about to catch up with him. Yet even though Polly will find herself at the centre of a web of deception, her own future begins to take on a new and fascinating shape...

Comment: A family member offered me this book in my birthday so this is the mainreason why I read it now. I've read another book by the author before (Villa in Italy) and despite its great premise, the story was boring and uninteresting.
I was afraid the same thing would happen with this one, so I had a really low expectancy towards the book. The beginning is slow and to be honest it just seemed too boring to go on, but I eally wanted to finish it so I could give a real opinion to the person who gave it to me, and I kept going.
I'm glad I did, because the story gained some force and interest and it was quite addictive in the middle. The characters seemed more alive and the things happening to them and because of them was good to follow. I believed it was going to be a great book....
But then the author ruined it all with the end. It was too fast, too rushed and too easy. I mean, I wish I could see how some things were going to work, the villain didn't have a very conclusive end and I felt let down. I don't understand why the author would do that, the story had vitality to the that poit and then...ehh, what a disapointment!
It's too bad, because I don't think this is a bad book, although it's set in a time I don't particularly like reading about (the 30/40s) and it has a style I think it's a bit boring, but it's a interesting book. Then the end just makes it all ruined, I think.
I recommend it but with caution, after all the end leaves a lot to be desired.