Lettice & Victoria

This mischievous roman a clef revolves around the interactions of five main characters. Victoria, barely twenty, finds herself acting as amanuensis to Laurence, an elderly man of letters, now blind, who lives in a ravishing house by the sea in northern Italy. Soon after her arrival, she indulges in a heady night of passion with Edgar, a youthful Englishman. Their subsequent union introduces Edgar's pretentious mother Lettice, who is jealous and suspicious of her daughter-in-law's prettiness and her ability to amuse Lettice's intellectual friends. While Victoria struggles to adapt to her new surroundings, Lettice, in a bid to maintain her own social superiority, attempts to thwart her every move in hilarious fashion. Enter Archie, one of the inner circle, whose relationship with Victoria provokes a scandal that threatens to destroy her. Darkly funny and deeply insightful, Lettice & Victoria is not just a love story with a fanciful and flawed female protagonist, but a wonderful portrait of English society.

Susanna Johnston is a former features writer for Tatler. Her books include The Picnic Papers (Hutchinson), Five Rehearsals (Chatto), Collecting: The Passionate Pastime (Viking), Parties: A Literary Companion (Macmillan) and Muriel Pulls It Off, Muriel s Reign and Late Youth: An Anthology Celebrating the Joys of Being Over 50, all published to great acclaim by Arcadia. Susanna is married, with four daughters and ten grandchildren, and lives in Oxfordshire with her architect husband.

This roman a clef revolves around Victoria, barely twenty, who finds herself acting as amanuensis to Laurence, an elderly man of letters, now blind, who lives in a ravishing house by the sea in northern Italy. Soon after her arrival, she indulges in a heady night of passion with Edgar, a youthful Englishman. Edgar's mother, Lettice, who is jealous and suspicious of Victoria's prettiness and her ability to amuse Lettice's intellectual friends, decides to ensure that Victoria's new life back in England is a misery. Darkly funny and deeply insightful, Lettice & Victoria is not just a love story with a fanciful and flawed female protagonist, but a wonderful portrait of 1950s English society.

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