The Terracotta Palace

by Anne Maybury

Where is Vanessa Malimbrosa. Juliet Holdroyd wants to know...and nothing the very strange, very rich Malimbrosa family can do will keep her from the twisted truth hidden in a fabulous villa in Rome.

Genres: Gothic

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Edith Arundel Buxton
aka Edith Arundel, Anne Maybury & Katherine Troy.

Her maiden surname was Arundel. Her ancestors were said to have come to England with the Norman Conquest and she was proud of the heritage which did seem to imbue her with a perceptive appreciation of history. The love of poetry which remained with her always was inherited from her father, a distinguished poet of his time. Her mother was a musician who died at an early age.

She was a writer of romantic suspense whose novels earned her world-wide acclaim and an enormous following. She was particularly popular in the United States. Her finest gift was for lyrical prose and she used her delight in colour and drama to such effect that the reader was immediately plunged into the story and held enthralled.

Her early novels were written also under the pennames of Edith Arundel and Katherine Troy, but it is as Anne Maybury that she will be remembered. She was a true professional who did not believe in wasting time. A promised deadline was adhered to and all social engagements regretfully cancelled. She developed early in life the profound interest in human behaviour and intrigue which was to prove a valuable asset to her writing. Also in good measure she retained the attribute so necessary to an author, a lively curiosity. She travelled widely and brought a sense of adventure into her books derived often from personal experiences of a bizarre kind. She seemed to attract excitement and used to say that she had met more than one murderer during her travels around the world. As a writer she was stylish, and this quality extended to her personality, which was full of vivid charm, lightened by a sparkling sense of fun.

Generous with her time to aspiring writers, she also loved literary chat with her peers. She was interested in new writing as well as the classics and read widely, keeping up with developments. She was a vice-president of both the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. Almost until his death she regularly attended meetings and gave time and care to helping the members and the causes in which they believe. She was a remarkable writer and a good friend and companion.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came for the atmosphere and I got it. Rome, the late 60s (the novel was published in 1970); the cafes, the piazzas, the traffic. Malimbrosa - "The Terracotta Palace" - an ancient mansion populated by humorless, secretive aristocrats, beautifully described from its roof garden to its expansive cellar. A remote villa where the hysterical child-heir has been exiled. A variety of villages, some charming and others dusty, all quaint. An eerie, burnt landscape - fittingly called "Dead Lands" - where an even eerier cabin sits. A semi-abandoned apartment building, a royal ball at a palace, al fresco lunches, walks in the dark... so much atmosphere!

Juliette Holdroyd, our stubborn and judgmental heroine, has come from England to visit her friend Vanessa - who has inconveniently disappeared. The novel is basically Juliette searching for her missing friend while staying at that friend's family manse Malimbrosa. During the search she juggles two rather repulsive romantic interests. This was enjoyably written and genuinely suspenseful, although the novel was a bit overlong and Juliette often got on my nerves. Still, a pleasant experience overall and the ending was nicely shocking. Moral of the tale: don't always trust your gut. I've been telling people that for years! Your gut can be wrong.

[Christine Honsinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I regret that this was my first book by Anne Maybury because I believe that I will quite possibly enjoy reading others in the future, perhaps finding some I really love. However, this turned out not to be one of them. Excessively melodramatic (and this from a girl who loves melodrama) and totally unbelievable (and this from a girl who is willing to suspend belief well beyond the scope of reason) I found myself rolling my eyes and laughing at it, and wanting to scream because of the great potential that this book could have had and failed to achieve...had it not been for....oh so many little things it would be impossible to list them all. Let's suffice it to say that even though I guessed how the whole thing would play out after just a few pages in, I was actually even more disappointed in other poorly constructed failings in the book. What made me give this book one more star than it rightly deserves was the hero of the book...a cool, confident, smart, smokin' hot guy (or at least that is how I pictured him given the author's description) When the reader can feel a pulse rate increase as the heroine does, then that is a good sign you may have a future in romance writing.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

On her first trip to Rome in fourteen years, a 22 year-old English woman becomes involved both in the search for a missing childhood friend and the secrets of the wealthy Malimbrosa family in this romantic suspense novel. Juliet Holdroyd has treasured memories of a magical summer spent as a child at her Italian school friend Vanessa Malimbrosa's Roman palazzo. Now, years later, she has come to visit, only to learn that Vanessa has vanished and the family seems indifferent. Why don't they try harder to find her? Juliet throws herself into the search, which turns out to be more complicated than she imagines. Like Mary Stewart, with whom she was often compared, Maybury brings alive the setting, so that the reader can vividly imagine the palazzo in its antique splendor, as well as the bustling city and the hill country outside Rome. She also brings her own pleasure in food, in clothing, and her interest in shades of grey among relationships, both platonic and romantic, to the writing, as well. The novel feels just a little longer than it should, but it's an enjoyable travelogue, skillfully done.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have read this several times, used to love it. Tried again, but just ended up wondering why I like it so much the first few times.

[Kidlitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's something draining about these Gothic romances, if you can call them that. The heroines lack more than a few grey cells, the men are a distressing lot, the families are either nuts or too nice but the setting, clothes, clothes are so gorgeous you read them through the narrative stupor punctuated by the realization these people have actual servants in the latter twentieth century funded by gosh knows what fortune that some dim chick is about to be killed over - doesn't everyone?

[Sara]

3.5 stars.

[Cindy Witte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roman holiday. Missing hostess. Family intrigue.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Includes all of the elements of romantic suspense but not as much of Anne Maybury's artistic expression as I like. Full review here (with spoilers): http://leslieinadamsmorgan.blogspot.c....