The Silent Fountain

Written by Victoria Fox

Narrated by Laurence Bouvard and Helen Keeley

‘Atmospheric and foreboding this is the perfect contemporary homage to the gothic tradition.’ – The Sun

Beneath the surface lies a terrible secret…

Hollywood, 1975: Tragedy sends troubled film star Vivien Lockhart into the arms of Giovanni Moretti, and it seems her fortunes have finally changed. Until she meets his sister, and learns that dark shadows haunt her new husband’s past…

Tuscany, Present day: Everyone in London is searching for Lucy Whittaker – so Lucy needs to disappear. But her new home, the crumbling Castillo Barbarossa, is far from the secluded paradise it seemed.

Across the decades, Vivien and Lucy find themselves trapped in the idyllic Italian villa.

And if they are ever to truly escape its walls, they must first unearth its secrets…

Rebecca meets Sante Montefiore in this atmospheric tale of lies, obsession, and betrayal…

‘Wonderfully atmospheric and suspenseful’ – Nicola Cornick, author of The Phantom Tree

‘Addictive reading, Victoria Fox hooks you and doesn’t let go. It’s Kate Morton with added sass!’ – Jenny Oliver, author of The Sunshine and Biscotti Club

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Mar 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9780263927290

Victoria Fox

By day I live in London. By night I relax in my fantasy LA mansion, sipping Krug in a Jacuzzi and watching a bare-chested man clean out my pool. I was born in 1983, went to boarding school in my teens and studied English at university. While there, I wrote my first (unpublished) bonkbuster: The Hardest Part. It had lots of sex in it and not a great deal else. Suffice to say that after a rambunctious beginning it was over disappointingly quickly. Despite this, the genre never lost its sheen. I want to write bonkbusters with swagger; rude, racy and irreverent reads that reignite the glory days of Collins and Cooper. Plenty of sex, bags of scandal and a host of outrageous players who keep us up long after lights-out. A long-time admirer of Jackie Collins, I often wondered what life would be like as a bonkbuster author. After working in publishing for a few years, I decided to quit and find out - and I haven't looked back since . . . Hollywood Sinners is my first novel. Victoria loves to hear from her readers via her email: [e-mail]

Reviews for The Silent Fountain

[brokenteepee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Let me begin by stating I am not happy that the time period that encompasses my early life is now considered “historical fiction.” That being noted The Silent Fountain is a story of two women; one who has run away from the world and one is is running from her current world.Lucy is a young woman living in England when her live implodes. She is presented with an opportunity to work for a mysterious woman at an estate in Italy. The timing is perfect for Lucy for she needs to get away and location is very secluded. The owner of estate, Vivian, is a recluse; an American actress who rose to stardom and then flamed out in the 70ies.The story alternates between Lucy and Vivian and goes back in forth in time to fully share Vivian’s story. That might sound confusing by Ms. Fox does an excellent job of keeping everything rolling along in an easy to read and organized fashion. The story slowly builds to explain why Lucy is running from her life and why Vivian has hidden from hers. In all truth Vivian’s tale is the more compelling and the driver of the book.The story is very gothic in nature with twists and turns and possible ghostly goings on. Just when you think you know what is going on you are fooled by a plot twist. Ms. Fox caught me a couple of times like this and that is a welcome feat in a book. The characters are all very well defined and there is not a dud among them. The ending is a little bit of smaltz and perfection all at once.

[kbranfield-837433 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seamlessly weaving back and forth in time, The Silent Fountain by Victoria Fox is a vaguely sinister mystery which takes place in an isolated Tuscan mansion.

Needing to escape from London, Lucy Whittaker is hired to work for reclusive former actress, Vivien Lockhart in Italy. With no internet or cell service at the spooky mansion, Castillo Barbarossa, she is blissfully unaware of whether or not the mistakes from her past have been exposed. Instead of dwelling on her own problems, Lucy is instead extremely curious about what happened to Vivien and why she lives such a solitary life with no company other than her maid, Adalina and groundskeeper, Salvatore. After experiencing a few strange events she cannot explain, Lucy tries researching the history of Castillo Barbarossa and Vivien's past. Finding little information, she teams up with Max Conti, Vivien's former housekeeper's nephew. When her personal life begins to implode, Lucy becomes more determined than ever to unearth the truth about Vivien and what happened at Castillo Barbarossa.

In the mid seventies, Vivien escaped her abusive father and fled to Hollywood where she discovered she had to a pay a pretty steep price for fame and fortune. Just as her life was spiraling out of control, she unexpectedly finds romance with Italian doctor, Giovanni "Gio" Moretti. Deliriously happy yet wary of his younger sister, Isabella, Vivien eagerly accepts his wedding proposal. Her dream wedding is marred by a vindictive act by Isabella and soon the three are ensconced at Castillo Barbarossa. Their initially happy marriage soon falters as Gio works long hours on a secret research project while Vivien grows increasingly frustrated by his refusal to believe Isabella is trying to drive Vivien away. As the years pass, Vivien and Isabella are locked in a battle of wills that culminates in tragedy.

Lucy has not had an easy life and once she is on her own, she makes a terrible decision when she puts her trust her boss, James Calloway. Now that things have gone horribly wrong, she feels incredibly guilty for her perceived role in what happened. The job in Italy is the perfect opportunity for her to leave the past behind, but she is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with some of the inexplicable and eerie phenomena at Castillo Barbarossa. While at first curious about the history of the Castillo and what happened to Vivien, Lucy's quest for answers eventually turns urgent amid her fears about the increasingly disturbing incidents she is experiencing. At the same time, her past is beginning to catch up with her and Lucy is soon facing an inescapable decision about how to handle the situation.

The Silent Fountain is an atmospheric mystery with increasingly ominous overtones. While Lucy's story is interesting, readers will most likely find Vivien's story arc the most compelling. With the chapters flipping back and forth between past and present, Victoria Fox ratchets up the tension as Vivien's secrets are slowly revealed. With numerous twists, turns and shocking revelations, the novel comes to a an poignant yet satisfying conclusion. A truly spell-binding, suspenseful mystery that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend to fans of the genre.

[fictionalblonde · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This worked well for me because I love a book about secrets. The characters were well developed and the story line was great. I look forward to this authors next book.

[bookscookslooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Let me begin by stating I am not happy that the time period that encompasses my early life is now considered “historical fiction.” That being noted The Silent Fountain is a story of two women; one who has run away from the world and one is is running from her current world.Lucy is a young woman living in England when her live implodes. She is presented with an opportunity to work for a mysterious woman at an estate in Italy. The timing is perfect for Lucy for she needs to get away and location is very secluded. The owner of estate, Vivian, is a recluse; an American actress who rose to stardom and then flamed out in the 70ies.The story alternates between Lucy and Vivian and goes back in forth in time to fully share Vivian’s story. That might sound confusing by Ms. Fox does an excellent job of keeping everything rolling along in an easy to read and organized fashion. The story slowly builds to explain why Lucy is running from her life and why Vivian has hidden from hers. In all truth Vivian’s tale is the more compelling and the driver of the book.The story is very gothic in nature with twists and turns and possible ghostly goings on. Just when you think you know what is going on you are fooled by a plot twist. Ms. Fox caught me a couple of times like this and that is a welcome feat in a book. The characters are all very well defined and there is not a dud among them. The ending is a little bit of smaltz and perfection all at once.