The Woman From Paris (51 page)

Authors: Santa Montefiore

Tags: #Fiction

by Santa Montefiore

The presence of a striking and mysterious blond woman among the mourners at Lord Frampton’s funeral surprises his family. When the young woman, Phaedra Chancellor, reveals that she is George Frampton’s daughter and that she has inherited the valuable Frampton suite of sapphires, surprise gives way to shock. But Phaedra’s effervescent nature soon wins over the Frampton family. The widowed Lady Antoinette finds in Phaedra the daughter she never had, while David, the new Lord Frampton, is utterly charmed as Phaedra manages to thaw the heart of Margaret, the Dowager Lady Frampton. But Roberta, the wife of Lord Frampton’s second son, is the only one not convinced and sets out to discover the truth about who Phaedra really is.

Discussion Questions

1. After the Framptons recover from the shock of learning that Phaedra is George’s daughter, most come to accept her. How does Phaedra win them over? Were you surprised by this? How would you have reacted?

2. After George’s death, Antoinette realizes,
“‘You were everything to me, George, but I was not everything to you.’”
How does this act as a catalyst for change in Antoinette’s life?

3. The Framptons are sure that Margaret will frighten Phaedra, yet the two women find common ground in their grief. Why does Phaedra see through Margaret’s facade in a way that her family cannot? What contributes to Margaret’s irritable nature? How does her nature change over the course of the novel?

4. Why are David and Phaedra drawn to each other? Why doesn’t Antoinette say anything when she realizes that David has fallen for Phaedra?

5. Why is Roberta the only Frampton who doesn’t take Phaedra at face value? What would have happened if Phaedra hadn’t inherited the Frampton sapphires? Did you sympathize with Roberta’s suspicions or did you think she was merely being spiteful?

6. What motivates Julius? What does he expect from Phaedra? If he truly admired and respected George, how could he act as he did toward George’s family?

7. Antoinette says of the folly,
“‘someone quite clearly built it with love. It’s only right that we should look after it.’”
How does this statement apply more broadly to the narrative? In what ways do the characters “look after” each other out of love and duty?

8. Antoinette and Margaret both learn that their husbands had secret relationships. How does each woman handle this knowledge? What enables each of them to move past this betrayal?

9. Discuss the reasons that Phaedra lies to the Framptons about being George’s daughter. Did Phaedra’s longing to belong to a family excuse her continued deception? What do you think would have happened if the Framptons knew truth in the first place? Do you think lying is ever justified?

10. What is your impression of George? How did learning about him through the lens of other characters influence your opinion? What were his priorities and how did they affect his wife, his children, and Phaedra? Do you think he would he have changed his will?

11. In the epilogue, the characters are brought together by work on the estate. At what other points in the novel do outdoor settings act as a source of catharsis or peace? Have you ever found solace in nature?

12. Discuss the theme of forgiveness. What enables the characters to forgive and find peace? Were you surprised at their capacity for forgiveness? What actions would you have found most difficult to forgive?

Enhance Your Book Club

1. Antoinette finds great comfort in her garden. If your group meets during a warmer month, consider getting together in a garden. To find public gardens near you, visit
www.garden.org/public_gardens/
.

2. Reread the section when Phaedra first comes across the neglected folly on the Frampton estate. Discuss with your book club members: If you could design a folly, what would it look like? What would you keep in it? To learn more about this eighteenth-century architectural tradition, visit
www.britainexpress.com/History/follies.htm
. To browse pictures of famous follies, like the pineapple building at Dunmore Park, visit
robgilhooly.photoshelter.com/gallery/G0000z0EFg3AroP0
.

3. Have you or your book club members read other novels by Santa Montefiore? If so, extend your discussion to the common themes in her work. To learn more about her other novels and to submit your own question to Santa Montefiore, visit
www.santamontefiore.co.uk
.

A Conversation with Santa Montefiore

What was your inspiration for
The Woman from Paris
?
Did you begin with a specific character or plot idea?

I started with the house! I fell in love with a beautiful Jacobean house near where I live in the country, and worked the plot around it.

In the biography section on your website, you write: “We have all had moments that we would give anything to live again.” What is one moment you wish you could relive?

Without doubt I would return to 1989 and relive the year I spent in Argentina as a nineteen-year-old. Inspired by the beauty of the pampa and the colorful people I met there, I wrote my first novel,
Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree
. I still have loads of friends there and return when I can. In my heart I feel it is my second home.

Phaedra deceives the Frampton family in the hopes of protecting them from the truth. Do you think good intentions ever justify a lie?

I think lying is acceptable in certain circumstances, one of those being when the truth would cause terrible pain. The trouble is, you always risk getting found out and being exposed. Perhaps if Phaedra had lied and disappeared afterwards, she might have got away with it. Her troubles began when she allowed herself to become part of the Frampton family and of course when she fell in love with David. There was no way it was all going to end well.

The novel stresses the necessity of forgiveness. Why did you want to emphasize this in
The Woman from Paris
?
Do you find it easy to practice forgiveness in your own life?

I think forgiveness is the hardest thing to find in our hearts, and yet it is the only way to diffuse our suffering. By holding on to resentment we hold on to pain. When we truly forgive, we allow love to burn away all negativity. Love frees us from suffering; but, goodness, I’ve had times in my life when I knew the theory and yet my heart remained as hard as stone. Sometimes, time is the only thing that softens the heart, which is why I think old people often make peace as they near the end of their lives. They grow wise and see the bigger picture.

Where is your favorite place to ski?

Klosters in Switzerland, where I based the ski scenes in this novel. My great-grandmother, who was Swiss, used to go there with her family, way back, and her descendents have called it home ever since.

Did you model Fairfield Park after a particular place?

Yes. I went to Hampshire to visit friends who have the most beautiful Jacobean house, set in spectacular grounds. I have always loved houses, especially old ones, and I adore those summer houses built on hills or beside lakes—they’re very romantic. I used the house but made it my own, as the real one is not positioned by a lake nor does it have a hill with a folly on the top. The houses in my novels are characters too.

Your husband, Simon Sebag Montefiore, is also a successful, internationally bestselling author. Do you ever edit or read each other’s early drafts? How do you influence each other as writers?

Absolutely—we help each other all the time. We consider ourselves a business and share everything. He helps me with plots. Usually, I come up with the idea and then we sit over a bottle of wine discussing it and working out all the possible scenarios. It’s fun. I read the first draft of his novels but not his history books. I can’t help with those. The novels I do feel qualified to critique. His new one, which comes out next year, is gripping and I really didn’t have to do much.

The Woman from Paris
is your eleventh novel. Was there any element of writing it that differed from your previous novels? How you do you think you have grown as a writer since your first novel?

I think the key to success is loving what you do, whatever field you are in. I adore writing. I can’t look out a window without feeling the urge to describe what I’m seeing. I think that enthusiasm is infectious. I have learnt a lot in the twenty years since I started writing my first novel, not only technically but from experience. The older I get, the wiser I become and the better I understand human nature. Writing about characters is much more interesting if those characters are complex. I think plot is important—and it’s fun to keep the reader guessing—but I think it’s well-drawn characters that keep the reader coming back for more. Is this novel different from my others? I think every one is different, like children, but I love them all equally.

What was the last book you read?

Me Before You
by Jojo Moyes. I found it moving, touching, and funny. A very heavy subject told lightly.

What are you working on now?

I’m editing the one for next year. It’s based in Ireland and is a mystery, love story with lots of twists and turns. I have loved writing about Connemara—it’s very wild and romantic. I shall start my fourteenth novel straight after.

If you would like Santa Montefiore to talk to your reading group, you can contact her on her Facebook page or at
[email protected]
.

Acknowledgments

I am incredibly fortunate to have two dynamic teams at Simon & Schuster, one in the U.K. and one in the United States, and I would like to thank them both wholeheartedly for working on my book with such enthusiasm and positivity: my U.K. editor Suzanne Baboneau and my U.S. editor Trish Todd; Kerr MacRae; Clare Hey; Katie McGowan; Hannah Corbett; and Lizzie Gardiner. I am so grateful and thrilled that the books they produce so beautifully reflect my stories in perfect pitch.

I’d like to thank Sheila Crowley, my brilliant agent and dear friend, for being a formidable ally and strong support. She’s always there when I need her and always fiercely optimistic and motivated.

I stayed with Ed and Maryam Eisler at their Jacobean house in Hampshire and felt so inspired I built this novel around it, with license to add a hill or two and a folly! I thank them for inspiring me. I also want to thank Jane Yarrow, Samantha Heyworth, Amanda Newson, Fiona Sherriff, Eloise Goldstein, and Sarah Vine for enhancing my life in so many ways and consequently adding to the pot of ideas that feed my imagination.

I’d like to thank my husband, Sebag, for his continuing patience and wisdom. He’s always ready to help weave plots and give me advice when I need it. Most of all he makes me laugh like no one else in the world—and that’s the recipe for good health and happiness! I really wouldn’t have written all these novels without him.

My mother is always my first reader, and her observations and ideas really matter and make a big difference to the final manuscript. I’m extremely grateful for her time and dedication—and for her
generosity, because so many of her stories are sewn into the pages of my books and she’s never said she minds!

My father is a deeply spiritual man and has taught me so much about what is important in life and why we’re all here, struggling to find meaning to it all. If my novels have some of his depth, then I have achieved a wonderful thing.

I thank my children, Lily and Sasha, for filling my heart so full of love that it overflows.

© ELAINE FATTAL

Santa Montefiore
is the internationally bestselling author of several novels, including
The French Gardener
and
The Last Voyage of the Valentina
. She lives in London with her husband, historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore, and their two children. Visit her website at
SantaMontefioreAuthor.com
.