The Gypsy Madonna: what is her secret
Mischa knows what it is to be abandoned. His German father disappeared at the end of the war, leaving him and his mother to endure the hatred and contempt of all the French villagers, the two of them against the world. And his surrogate father vanishes too, with no word of explanation. Mischa bears these scars into manhood. Only when his mother dies, revealing the existence of a priceless masterpiece, does he go on the trail of his own history. He makes a pilgrimage into the past, to that French village of his childhood, and there he uncovers the secret of the Gypsy Madonna.
Out of the horrors of the past, the author has created a story that is epic in scope and emotion, but also brilliantly observant and truthful. It is surprising, moving and skilful. - Elizabeth Buchan
Santa Montefiore brilliantly captures the intrigue and skulduggery of a country at war in a very absorbing romance. - Red on LAST VOYAGE OF THE VALENTINA
Romantics will adore this story of yearning love. - Daily Express on THE SWALLOW AND THE HUMMINGBIRD
Engaging and charming - Penny Vincenzi, Mail on Sunday on THE BUTTERFLY BOX