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The Night Villa

By: Carol Goodman
Narrated by: Susanna Burney
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Summary

An evocative tale of intrigue, romance, and treachery, Carol Goodman's spellbinding new novel, The Night Villa, follows the fascinating lives of two remarkable women centuries apart.

The eruption of Italy's Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 buried a city and its people, their treasures and secrets. Centuries later, echoes of this disaster resonate with profound consequences in the life of classics professor Sophie Chase.

In the aftermath of a tragic shooting on the University of Texas campus, Sophie seeks sanctuary on the isle of Capri, immersing herself in her latest scholarly project alongside her colleagues, her star pupil, and their benefactor, the compelling yet enigmatic business mogul John Lyros.

Beneath layers of volcanic ash lies the Villa della Notte - the Night Villa - home to first-century nobles, as well as to the captivating slave girl at the heart of an ancient controversy. And secreted in a subterranean labyrinth rests a cache of antique documents believed lost to the ages: a prize too tantalizing for Sophie to resist.

But suspicion, fear, and danger roam the long-untrodden tunnels and chambers beneath the once sumptuous estate - especially after Sophie sees the face of her former lover in the darkness, leaving her to wonder if she is chasing shadows or succumbing to the siren song of the Night Villa. Whatever shocking events transpired in the face of Vesuvius's fury have led to deeper, darker machinations that inexorably draw Sophie into their vortex, rich in stunning revelations and laden with unseen menace.

©2008 Carol Goodman (P)2008 Macmillan Audio
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Critic reviews

"Goodman deftly mixes cultural and religious history, geography, myth, personal memory, dream and even portent without sacrificing narrative drive, against the beautiful backdrop of the locale with its echoes of unimaginable loss." ( Publishers Weekly)
"The pleasure of a Carol Goodman novel is in her enviable command of the classical canon - and the deft way she [writes] a book that's light enough for a weekend on the beach but literary enough for a weekend in the Hamptons." ( Chicago Tribune)

What listeners say about The Night Villa

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Must be a classics lover

You cannot read this book if you don’t like classics because there’s way too much of it in this book to get through the storyline (which isn’t that great to be honest). I liked the classical information more than the cult shit

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Utter guff

I hadn’t realised that this was going to be a chasing after antiquities conspiracy story. That would have been ok but the characters were cliched and had a habit of acting out of character and the whole diary thing, well sheesh. This book won’t harm anyone and if it’s your type of thing then, hey but it’s not good!

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    4 out of 5 stars

A mystery in buried Herculaneum

Just a little too long - but not much. Two storyline running parallel, one from modern day and the other from the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius. The link is the villa della nocte of the title, partly excavated, and the search for ancient scrolls which might be preserved there.

There's a good mix of characters and credible scenarios and motives, a sufficiency of bones, a neat but satisfactory ending. Carol Goodman writes well, and the reading is good.

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    3 out of 5 stars

My new favourite author

I'm usually a Christie fan, but I like Carol Goodman's writing. This is not one of her best, a bit Dan Brown for my taste, but still worth listening to. I preferred my reading - the accent wasn't so nasal in my head, but it's fairly enjoyable.

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Having my wisdom teeth out was less painful

I don't mind books that are slow and descriptive... but this book meanders on and on about irrelevant drivel till your ears bleed. The poor, monotonous narration really didn't help either.

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