The Invitation

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The novel setting is closely based on Fort William, a real country estate in the Western Scottish Islands that the author knows well. Lucy Foley studied English literature at Durham University and University College London and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry. The Invitation is more compelling in comparison to Foley’s other historical fiction; the mystery is intriguing and the conflict is clear and convincing.

Are there certain passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found interesting or revealing.This is a beautifully written book, with rich descriptions of settings along the Mediterranean - from the coast of Italy, to the south of France. It was definitely a bit dopey and try-hard, but not embarrassingly so, and I liked it more than I was annoyed by it.

An irresistibly entertaining and atmospheric novel set in some of the world's most glamorous locales, The Invitation is a sultry love story about the ways in which the secrets of the past stay with us -- no matter how much we try to escape them. The blurbs on the jacket describe this book as "luminous", and I guess that is true, if luminous means boring. Hal and Stella are the two main characters of this book and we follow both their stories lines, both past and present, as their paths cross. This stylish and yet suspenseful novel assumes the notion of the “locked room mystery,” and detailed applies it to an opulent hunting cottage in the Scottish highlands where a small group of friends find themselves caught up in a blizzard.They might be a different species altogether from the black-clad matrons glimpsed in Trastevere hanging out their washing, heading to church, looking exactly as they might have done in centuries past. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author's intellectual property. Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. We understand that not everyone can donate right now, but if you can afford to contribute, we promise it will be put to good use.

Because she does have it, a charisma beside which the charms of youth or beauty are so much blown thistledown. Rome 1953: Hal and Stella meet by chance at a glittering party hosted by the Contessa, a fundraiser for her film project. Now they are reaching the top of the staircase where the final door stands open to reveal a seething crowd. Stella is bound to a powerful and profoundly dangerous man, and as Hal’s obsession grows with every passing wave, they sail closer towards a tragic fate.

I need to stop choosing historical fiction and expecting it to read like fiction from a historical period. An Italian Contessa asks him to assist on a trip of a lifetime--acting as a reporter on a tremendous yacht, skimming its way along the Italian coast toward Cannes film festival, the most famous artists and movie stars of the day gathered to promote a new film. His sole function is to operate as an unlikely confidant so other characters divulge their secrets, or else as a romantic distraction for the only vaguely interesting character in the entire novel, Stella.

The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. One draws on a cigarette self-consciously, blowing a thin plume of smoke over her shoulder in what must be a gesture borrowed from a picture. The Invitation is an early novel written by Lucy Foley, an author whose thrillers and family dramas have entertained me many times the last two years.He is reminded of the myth of the Sphinx at Thebes, asking her riddles, devouring those who answer wrongly. On a re-read (yes, the weather in Southern England at the moment is particularly foul, I needed some escapism), I found myself really struggling through the 'filler' material, to the extent where I skimmed between the more compelling plot points. Set in 1950s Italy, the story revolves around a film being produced and all the intricacies of behavior in the time period. Although mostly a romance/love story, there weren’t any tacky, over the top sex scenes and focused a lot more on the emotional side of love than the physical which I liked.