Celia Sands (whose stage name is Sullivan) has just landed a really big part in a play to be financed by the playwright's grandson. He wants Celia for the starring role because she shares the name of his grandfather's mistress, also an actress for whom the play had been written. She, the first Celia, never played the starring role, however, as she disappeared the night before the play was due to open. The play is to be performed at the theatre Il Piacere, a massive Italian estate developed by the grandfather. Alex has donated the complex to an Italian trust and is overseeing its renovation. He is currently involved with the head of the trust, Daniela Forlani. Celia was originally reluctant to take the role because the other lead is to be played by the well-known Madeleine Hedrick, whose marriage Celia's mother destroyed with an affair. Celia's flatmate had warned her away from Il Piacere, suggesting that evil resided there.
I thoroughly enjoyed this Gothic romance, especially references to the fourth crusade!
"The actor's art, after all, was a study in deception?'
"If you can't say something nice about a person, you should keep your mouth shut."
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