What do you think?
Rate this book
The Last Letters from Villa Clara: A moving and sweeping story of love, betrayal and sacrifice
'A well-written and fascinating narrative about love and loss, courage and betrayal, the past and secrets, art and reproductions' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'This is certainly a wow of a read . . . interesting, insightful, suspenseful' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
CAN THE SEARCH FOR A WARTIME SECRET UNLOCK HER FUTURE?
1939. Europe is on the brink of change and in the fear and chaos of pre-war Italy, a painting disappears and is never seen again.
1963. London is on the cusp of change in the swinging 60s. Nightclubs and exclusive parties are in their heyday, as are the art thieves of the East End underworld. But when a lowly boarding-house landlady attempts to take on the upper-crust establishment, and is accused of spying for the Russians, she can save only one thing - her reputation, or the love of her life.
1989. Phoebe Cato is on the verge of losing everything she cares her labour of love, the struggling Cato Museum that houses Bruce Cato's collection of masterful reproductions, and worse than that, her beloved uncle Bruce himself. With only months to live, Phoebe may not be able to save Bruce's life, but little does she know that he had planned on saving hers all along.
Following Bruce's final trail of clues, hidden in a series of paintings, Phoebe embarks on a journey to uncover a long-held family secret and a sweeping love story that encompassed the decades . . .
The moving and captivating new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Schoolteacher of Saint Michel sweeps us from an Italy simmering on the brink of war through to 1960s London at a time of shadows and Russian spies, taking us on an extraordinary journey of love, courage and betrayal.
Perfect for fans of Natasha Lester, Fiona Valpy and Santa Montefiore, real readers love Sarah Steele's novels.
'One of those books you can't put down and think about when you are not reading' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'The story kept me hooked' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Ms. Steele captures the atmosphere of the time exceedingly well' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
' Compelling...beautifully written and evocative' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'An exceptionally touching tale' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'This is certainly a wow of a read . . . interesting, insightful, suspenseful' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
CAN THE SEARCH FOR A WARTIME SECRET UNLOCK HER FUTURE?
1939. Europe is on the brink of change and in the fear and chaos of pre-war Italy, a painting disappears and is never seen again.
1963. London is on the cusp of change in the swinging 60s. Nightclubs and exclusive parties are in their heyday, as are the art thieves of the East End underworld. But when a lowly boarding-house landlady attempts to take on the upper-crust establishment, and is accused of spying for the Russians, she can save only one thing - her reputation, or the love of her life.
1989. Phoebe Cato is on the verge of losing everything she cares her labour of love, the struggling Cato Museum that houses Bruce Cato's collection of masterful reproductions, and worse than that, her beloved uncle Bruce himself. With only months to live, Phoebe may not be able to save Bruce's life, but little does she know that he had planned on saving hers all along.
Following Bruce's final trail of clues, hidden in a series of paintings, Phoebe embarks on a journey to uncover a long-held family secret and a sweeping love story that encompassed the decades . . .
The moving and captivating new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Schoolteacher of Saint Michel sweeps us from an Italy simmering on the brink of war through to 1960s London at a time of shadows and Russian spies, taking us on an extraordinary journey of love, courage and betrayal.
Perfect for fans of Natasha Lester, Fiona Valpy and Santa Montefiore, real readers love Sarah Steele's novels.
'One of those books you can't put down and think about when you are not reading' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'The story kept me hooked' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Ms. Steele captures the atmosphere of the time exceedingly well' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
' Compelling...beautifully written and evocative' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'An exceptionally touching tale' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
- GenresHistorical Fiction
399 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 5, 2024
36 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Steele
19 books31 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author with this name on GR
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 13, 2024
A triple timeline saga by Sarah Steele and it’s told from the two main female characters points of view and I had no trouble following it and it wasn't at all confusing or overdone.
1938: Europe is on the brink of anther world war, when a reputable London art dealer and his assistant travel to Italy, and Villa Clara in Tuscany. Painter and art restorer Bruce Cato, is worried a painting he’s recently bought could be damaged or seized, and he gives it to them to take back to London, and he has no idea the couple’s train will be stopped at the border and their cases searched and the suspected masterpiece will go missing.
1963: London's parties and nightclubs are packed with girls dancing in miniskirts and some people think it’s indecent. The East End underworld is still busy dealing in all things dodgy and including stolen goods and art. Staying at a Ludlow Garden’s boarding house for ladies at the time is Margot, Joan, Linda and Hillary and the owner Leonora Birch is about to be sued for slander and risks losing everything.
1985: Phoebe has found memories of her spending her holidays in Tuscany staying with her uncle Bruce, his housekeeper Angelina, Marco and their son Stefano. Phoebe now runs the Cato Museum of Artifice in London with her best friend Tilly, it houses her uncle’s collection of art and reproductions and it’s not making a profit. Bruce sadly passes away, he leaves his rundown villa to Phoebe and he sends her and occasionally Stefano on a treasure hunt, with a series of signs that they have to find and uncover and to solve a half a century old mystery.
Phoebe is taken on a journey from London to Spain and Tuscany, to find information about Leonora and her son Laurence and ex lodgers Margot, Joan, Linda, Hillary, and the offices of a well-known London art dealer and critic, and she visits museums, scrolls through microfilm in libraries and art sales databases and looking for any clues about a lost painting by famous Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer and it's links to her uncle Bruce.
I received a copy of The Last Letters from Villa Clara by Sarah Steele from NetGalley and Headline in exchange for an honest review and I have been a huge fan of hers since 2020 when I read Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon.
A well written and fascinating narrative about love and loss, courage and betrayal, the past and secrets, art and reproductions, cheats, liars and philanders. Five stars from me and I recommend this novel for lovers of fiction with a strong focus on art and plucky and determined women.
1938: Europe is on the brink of anther world war, when a reputable London art dealer and his assistant travel to Italy, and Villa Clara in Tuscany. Painter and art restorer Bruce Cato, is worried a painting he’s recently bought could be damaged or seized, and he gives it to them to take back to London, and he has no idea the couple’s train will be stopped at the border and their cases searched and the suspected masterpiece will go missing.
1963: London's parties and nightclubs are packed with girls dancing in miniskirts and some people think it’s indecent. The East End underworld is still busy dealing in all things dodgy and including stolen goods and art. Staying at a Ludlow Garden’s boarding house for ladies at the time is Margot, Joan, Linda and Hillary and the owner Leonora Birch is about to be sued for slander and risks losing everything.
1985: Phoebe has found memories of her spending her holidays in Tuscany staying with her uncle Bruce, his housekeeper Angelina, Marco and their son Stefano. Phoebe now runs the Cato Museum of Artifice in London with her best friend Tilly, it houses her uncle’s collection of art and reproductions and it’s not making a profit. Bruce sadly passes away, he leaves his rundown villa to Phoebe and he sends her and occasionally Stefano on a treasure hunt, with a series of signs that they have to find and uncover and to solve a half a century old mystery.
Phoebe is taken on a journey from London to Spain and Tuscany, to find information about Leonora and her son Laurence and ex lodgers Margot, Joan, Linda, Hillary, and the offices of a well-known London art dealer and critic, and she visits museums, scrolls through microfilm in libraries and art sales databases and looking for any clues about a lost painting by famous Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer and it's links to her uncle Bruce.
I received a copy of The Last Letters from Villa Clara by Sarah Steele from NetGalley and Headline in exchange for an honest review and I have been a huge fan of hers since 2020 when I read Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon.
A well written and fascinating narrative about love and loss, courage and betrayal, the past and secrets, art and reproductions, cheats, liars and philanders. Five stars from me and I recommend this novel for lovers of fiction with a strong focus on art and plucky and determined women.
March 30, 2025
In the art world the finding of ‘lost’ or unknown masters creates massive excitement amongst collectors: provenance being proof of authenticity. But the journey that these works take is nothing short of extraordinary. In ‘The Last Letters from Villa Clara” by Sarah Steele we are on a cleverly executed treasure hunt for such a painting, that unfolds from a Tuscan villa in 1939, to London in the swinging 60s, and the 1980s, bringing together nostalgia, the strength of the human spirit and an enduring love. Spades of characters with spirit and colour, each one drawn as delicately as the artist’s brush on whom the story turns. It’s also a story of righting a wrong, putting the record straight. Add a crooked, pompous, British aristocratic art dealer, a young woman determined to unpack a mystery that only now (the 80s) is she finding out about, a star of British TV, a cheeky East End art thief, a runaway bride, a lively Italian lawyer and love that spans decades and the connections spin a yarn that is mesmerizing. Steele pulls them together in an intriguing, heart-rending and eye-opening story, skillfully knitting clues from past and present to create a story that draws you in.
1989: World renowned artist Bruce Cato is dying – a devasting blow to his niece Phoebe. Spending many summers with him at Villa Clara, he was her surrogate father, opening her eyes to the wonders of art, his brilliance in reproducing Old Masters gaining him worldwide recognition. In the London Cato Museum of Artifice that Phoebe has opened to house his collection she is in danger of losing both. But Bruce has a plan and, while Phoebe mourns his passing, he has set in motion a trail of letters hidden in paintings that will lead her to find the truth. And Villa Clara is hers. The trail will take her back in time to 1939 and the upper crust art dealer Sir Edwin Viner, his secretary/mistress Leonora Birch and the rekindling of the love Cato and Birch had shared at art college. War is looming and paintings packed for London go missing, presumably through a Nazi search. Spin ahead to the swinging 60s and a lowly, boarding house owner attempts to bring down a respected art dealer but the ‘establishment’ steps in to scupper her. Fast forward to the 80s as Phoebe starts her journey and you won’t put the book down until the final breathtaking end. A tightly woven, cleverly executed story, easy to read and absorbing.
1989: World renowned artist Bruce Cato is dying – a devasting blow to his niece Phoebe. Spending many summers with him at Villa Clara, he was her surrogate father, opening her eyes to the wonders of art, his brilliance in reproducing Old Masters gaining him worldwide recognition. In the London Cato Museum of Artifice that Phoebe has opened to house his collection she is in danger of losing both. But Bruce has a plan and, while Phoebe mourns his passing, he has set in motion a trail of letters hidden in paintings that will lead her to find the truth. And Villa Clara is hers. The trail will take her back in time to 1939 and the upper crust art dealer Sir Edwin Viner, his secretary/mistress Leonora Birch and the rekindling of the love Cato and Birch had shared at art college. War is looming and paintings packed for London go missing, presumably through a Nazi search. Spin ahead to the swinging 60s and a lowly, boarding house owner attempts to bring down a respected art dealer but the ‘establishment’ steps in to scupper her. Fast forward to the 80s as Phoebe starts her journey and you won’t put the book down until the final breathtaking end. A tightly woven, cleverly executed story, easy to read and absorbing.
April 17, 2025
A moving and sweeping story of love, betrayal, and sacrifice.
The Metropolitan Police Art and Antiques Unit is a branch of the Specialist, Organised & Economic Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The unit's purpose is to investigate art theft, illegal trafficking and fraud.
Art forgery is the creation and sale of works of art that are intentionally falsely credited to other, usually more famous artists. Art forgery can be extremely lucrative, but modern dating and analysis techniques have made the identification of forged artwork easier. This type of fraud is meant to mislead by creating a false provenance, or origin, of the object in order to enhance its value or prestige at the expense of the buyer.When caught, some of these forgers attempt to pass off the fakes as jokes or hoaxes on the art experts and dealers they were selling to, or on the art world as a whole.There are essentially three varieties of art forger. The person who actually creates the fraudulent piece, the person who discovers a piece and attempts to pass it off as something it is not, typically in order to increase the piece's value, and the third who discovers that a work is a fake, but sells it as an original anyway.
The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Centre in LA, CA, is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts.The Getty Provenance Index holds records of collections, auction sales, and other information for researching the art market and the provenance of works.Provenance (from French provenir 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object.
Johannes 'Jan' Vermeer (October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialised in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. During his lifetime, he was a moderately successful provincial genre painter, recognised in Delft and The Hague.He produced relatively few paintings, primarily earning his living as an art dealer. One of his paintings, Girl with a Pearl Earring, is considered a masterpiece.
The Metropolitan Police Art and Antiques Unit is a branch of the Specialist, Organised & Economic Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The unit's purpose is to investigate art theft, illegal trafficking and fraud.
Art forgery is the creation and sale of works of art that are intentionally falsely credited to other, usually more famous artists. Art forgery can be extremely lucrative, but modern dating and analysis techniques have made the identification of forged artwork easier. This type of fraud is meant to mislead by creating a false provenance, or origin, of the object in order to enhance its value or prestige at the expense of the buyer.When caught, some of these forgers attempt to pass off the fakes as jokes or hoaxes on the art experts and dealers they were selling to, or on the art world as a whole.There are essentially three varieties of art forger. The person who actually creates the fraudulent piece, the person who discovers a piece and attempts to pass it off as something it is not, typically in order to increase the piece's value, and the third who discovers that a work is a fake, but sells it as an original anyway.
The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Centre in LA, CA, is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts.The Getty Provenance Index holds records of collections, auction sales, and other information for researching the art market and the provenance of works.Provenance (from French provenir 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object.
Johannes 'Jan' Vermeer (October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialised in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. During his lifetime, he was a moderately successful provincial genre painter, recognised in Delft and The Hague.He produced relatively few paintings, primarily earning his living as an art dealer. One of his paintings, Girl with a Pearl Earring, is considered a masterpiece.
June 24, 2025
Relished this read as the start promised drama between Tuscany and London. It’s about paintings and a highly skilled copier who made copies not forgeries for many reasons, mainly to keep original safe and locked away. However the villain in this story is Edward Vinner who tries to pass these paintings (and made a very decent living) off as originals and became so rich & famous he was untouchable by those who knew the truth and who sought justice over decades.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2025
Slow beginning
The beginning of this story was hard to get into. The story shifting from 3 different times and all the characters was a little difficult to keep tract of. But the story came together about half way and had an interesting twist towards the ending chapters. No offense to the author but I loved her previous books better. 🤷♀️
The beginning of this story was hard to get into. The story shifting from 3 different times and all the characters was a little difficult to keep tract of. But the story came together about half way and had an interesting twist towards the ending chapters. No offense to the author but I loved her previous books better. 🤷♀️
February 22, 2025
A love story.
you can read the book or watch the movie,
Satisfying, if you are into romance.
you can read the book or watch the movie,
Satisfying, if you are into romance.
March 23, 2025
Really enjoyed this story
November 18, 2025
EXCELLENT
This was a very intriguing storyline which kept me wanting to know what would happen next then how it was going to end
This was a very intriguing storyline which kept me wanting to know what would happen next then how it was going to end
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews