Dear Santa, Not really a question but just wanted to to say it has been about eight years ago I first discovered you books and read The Butterfly Box. I was utterly captivated by how you create such magical landscapes and I find your charecters so compelling, I quickly went out and bought Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree which I also loved. I have now read all of your books, most recently The House By The Sea and am so pleased that while your plot ideas and charecters are always fresh and new, they still contain that special brand of magic that is a constant throughout all of your novels. My personal favourite is The Forget-Me-Not Sonata and have read it so many times but still adore it, it's fantastic. I eagerly await future novels by you x
Dear Kerry, you're really sweet to take the trouble to write such a long and positive email! I'm really flattered that you enjoy my novels and so pleased that you have not been disappointed by any of them! I'll try to keep the standard high!!!! I've just finished the one for next year, though no one can agree on the title - The Sunset House...Fairfield Park...at the moment they are tossing ideas about but we all agree that the title should not have the word 'house' in as I've just published one which contains that word...I wanted Love's Folly, but the US don't have follies, so they wouldn't understand.. Anyway, I've started the book for 2013, based in Connemara in Ireland. I have such a good idea, I think, slightly unusual but as you say, with all the usual ingredients I can't help but put in my books, because they are part of ME....and I cannot detach from who I am!
So, I'll keep writing for as long as I have ideas. I loved writing Forget me Not, I think I had a lot of time and energy when I wrote that book...time is now scarce as I have a family and other committments - I look back at the first four novels and wonder that I actually managed to put so many words onto the page...
Thank you again for writing and I hope you enjoy any future books I write as much as the ones you have already read.
Best wishes, Santa X X
I have just finished your great book The Affair, couldn,t put it down.The only thing I couldn,t work out was Kate,s toddler at the wedding, the strawberry birthmark on his bottom. Who was the father? have I missed something, I really need to know.
Dear Sheila, you're not the only one to have asked that. I think I should have made more of it at the beginning. You remember when Kate gives Art a party. Well, it's reported the following day by one of the friends (can't remember which one) that Art pulls down his trousers and flashes his bottom, upon which is a strawberry birthmark, inherited from his father who also had one...so at the end when Art comments 'well I'll be damned' or something similar, he realises that his one night stand with Kate left a little more than he had anticipated!! A small humorous touch!
Thank you so much for your email...and thank you for your praise! Best wishes, Santa
Dear Santa, For the first time in a long time I read a book and it was one of yours ! I read : The affaire. Kate's son had a birthmark as a strawberry but I can't remember wich character had that same birthmark.... I really loved your book and I'm sure there will be next to read ! Thank you !
Dear Anne-Mieke, I've just answered the same question to another reader...you remember when Kate gives her gay friend Art a party, right at the beginning - well, he pulls down his trousers to reveal a strawberry birthmark, inherited from his father who had the same - so at the end when he comments "Well, I'll be damned" or something similar on seeing the little boy with the same mark as him, he realises that he's the father - a drunken one night stand with Kate left more than he bargained for!
Warmest wishes and thank you so much for writing! Santa X X
PS I'm wondering whether there's something missing in the Dutch version as I think all the questions about this are from Holland!
Dear Santa I have just read 'House by the Sea' and enjoyed it enormously. I think you write about Italy beautifully, you capture the essence of being Italian perfectly. myself, I am half Italian/English and my most favourite of your books are: 'The Last Voyage of the Valentina' and 'The Italian Matchmaker'. Do you do book signings? - I would love to have my copies signed. Michele Walker
Dear Michele, thank you so much for writing to me. I'm so pleased you like my Italian novels - that's a great compliment coming from an Italian!!! I adore Italy and love the people, which is why my writing comes alive when I write about them! I also love writing about Argentina as they're very Italian too!! I do ocasionally do book signings. I have nothing in the diary for the moment, though. I will be doing signings in April next year when the paperback comes out of The House by The Sea - and my new hardback will come out end of July, so I'll probably sign those too. The best thing is to call a central London waterstones to buy your copy and ask them to put it aside for me to sign it, then they'll send it to you - alternatively, I can sign a few stickers for you to stick inside your books...my email is santa.montefiore@talk21.com so if you email me your address, I'll send you a few sticky labels...that might be the easiest way!
Thank you so much for writing, I really appreciate you taking the trouble! Best wishes and I look forward to writing many more books based in Italy for you to enjoy. By the way, if you haven't read Elizabeth von Arnim's An Enchanted April - which is a beautifully written, evokative novel about Italy, you should as I think you'd love it! X X Santa
Who is Hercules's father in The Perfect Happiness? I did not get the strawberry birthmark reference. This is the first book I've read of yours and I enjoyed it so much I intend to read them all! Thank you.
Dear Carol, funny as you're not the only person to ask me that - and I'm sure not the last. You remember when Kate throws a party for her best gay friend, Art? He pulls down his trousers to reveal a strawberry shaped birthmark, which he inherited from his father...well, there you go - it's Art!
Hope that clears it up for you...Thank you for your very kind words. If you read any of my other books, i hope you enjoy them too!! Thank you for writing. My warmest wishes, Santa X X
Dear Santa, I’m 24 years old and I live in Belgium. Last night I’ve finished your book ‘Meet me under the ombu tree’. I’ve read this book in tears. When I came to the moment that Sofia had to leave, I knew the story wouldn’t continue as I hoped it would. To be honest, I skipped the chapters in which Sofia and Santi each started their own family. For me that was the moment they gave up and decided not to fight for their love. It makes me so sad they had to continue life with an emptiness in their hearts, but also that Sofia felt like a stranger when she returned to Santa Catalina. After all, it seemed that she enjoyed her childhood at the pampas more than anyone else did. I wish she went back to Argentina instead of moving to London. I wish her family, especially Santi, had done more effort to get her back or to discover where she was. Eight years ago I fell in love with my second cousin. We were secretly together for almost two years, but we were too young to start a serious relationship. So our ways split for several years. We got older, we experienced life, and now we are back together for 3 years already. I guess I can relate to Sofia, luckily with an other end. I’ve never read a book that touched me so deep. I loved your descriptions of Santa Catalina and of the love that grew between sofia and santi. I learned how important it is to treasure the happy moments in life, to appreciate the small things, and to forgive before it is too late. I don’t know when I will read this book for a second time, but I definitely will read your other books!
