The Hotel on the Riviera
By Carol Kirkwood
The Hotel on the Riviera is a beautifully written, summer escapist book, with opulence and intrigue. Find out more in the blurb and my review below. Thanks to Harper Collins UK for a review copy.
Blurb
From Sunday Times bestselling author and the nation’s best loved TV presenter Carol Kirkwood comes a glittering escape to the French Riviera. ‘A stunning holiday read with passion and heart, perfect…!’ Anton Du Beke
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By the sapphire blue waters of the French Riviera, a decades-long secret is about to be revealed…
Wayward Greek heiress, Ariana Theodosis, inherits the Hotel du Soleil as part of a mysterious legacy. Captivated by its faded glamour, she hopes it offers her the chance to start again.
Hotelier Gabriel du Lac’s family have owned the hotel for decades – and he has no intention of giving it up for a beautiful stranger.
Madame du Lac has watched the rich and famous pass through the doors of the hotel for almost half a century, and she has kept its secrets too.
As the past finally catches up with them all, will this summer reveal a forgotten secret, and change their lives forever…?
Review
From the outset I felt captivated. The prologue poses much curiosity in the row that is created. Then readers are taken to Ithos, 2009, where Ariana is. It all feels sparkly and richly elegant. Underneath all that is an air of change when she meets up with her father – Demetrios Theodosis.
Readers are on a fantastic journey through the beautifully written book through Ithos, Portofino, Cannes. It all sounds idyllic, but rather mysteriously, tragedy strikes and so does a different sort of intrigue as now there is not only a need to find out more behind the initial beauty, there is a mystery to solve too and the question of what happened at a party is posed.
The Hotel du Soleil intrigues as there is a row brewing over who actually owns it and everyone wants a piece of it and has their own ideas of what to do about it now it’s once, more opulent and rich, famous history has faded away. There are also secrets that are uncovered, as well as quite a bit of name-dropping, which fits the setting of Cannes and around the film industry well. The book captures a bit of the lifestyles of the “other-half” of society.
The Hotel on the Riviera is a great summer read for escapism!