Villa Wintrebert by Penelope Curtis
Banyuls-sur-Mer, French Catalonia: one hot summer in the 1970s, the lives of three generations of women converge in the long tropical garden hidden behind the Villa Wintrebert, named after the biologist who lived there with his wife. As in her debut After Nora (2024), Penelope Curtis deftly weaves fact and fiction in this moving story of childhood and of adult complicity. Harmony beween la belle Eugénie and the young Monique is disrupted when a well-intentioned commission to the renowned local sculptor, Aristide Maillol, shines a light on the fundamental fragility of the women’s relationship, on which the villa and its garden had depended. Decades later, Monique invites Eva and her two little girls into the villa, where traces of the past imprint themselves on the present.Praise for After Nora
‘Penelope Curtis's After Nora is a fascinating European novel in the best senseSpanning three generations and countries, it is a rich, tantalising portrait of beautiful minds in love and in the thick of creation.’ – Xiaolu Guo, author of Radical
‘After Nora tells a brilliantly layered story. Everything in the telling is both certainly true and only possibly true. We read and we trust everything in the unravelling.’ – Erica Van Horn, author of We Still Have the Telephone
‘This vivid, imagined history is charming and delicate and absolutely hums with life. After Nora is a gem, tucking brilliant observations on art and what it means (and doesn’t mean) to be an artist into twinned narratives about women attempting to carve space out for themselves within their chosen worlds. An accomplished and fascinating debut!’ – Kyra Wilder, author of Gloss
‘In the tradition of the best of Iris Murdoch and Muriel Spark, Penelope Curtis' debut novel shies away from a hagiography of her father and grandmother, instead turning a sharp, academic eye onto matters both personal and artistic, transforming a family history into a chiseled study of love, responsibility, and expressions of freedom. (…) Both Nora and Maria are excavators, of their own feelings and motivations, as well as of the complexities of the world around them, spearheading inquiries into the nature of how to think and feel. (…) Thus, one strength of the narration is the rigour of the two main protagonists, to inquire into themselves and others, which means Curtis' own power to do so as well.’ – Brian Willems, author of Sham Ruins
‘A thoroughly absorbing read, After Nora evokes a vivid sense of place, seamlessly combining autobiography and history.’ – Daria Santini, author of The Exiles: Actors, Artists and Writers Who Fled the Nazis for London
‘I found After Nora increasingly moving as it went along and I loved the various musings on the purpose and meaning of/in art as Nora tries to understand the value of the paintings she’s producing.’ – David Thorp, artist and curator
Penelope Curtis grew up in Glasgow and studied art history in England and France. Over the course of a distinguished career in the arts, she has directed the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, Tate Britain in London, and, most recently, the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. As an art historian, she is especially known for her work on Barbara Hepworth, about whom she has written a best-selling biography, and for many exhibitions on the materials and meanings of sculpture. Her most recent books are her first novel After Nora, and The Pliable Plane.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781068433870 |
| ISBN 10 | 1068433876 |
| Title | Villa Wintrebert |
| Author | Penelope Curtis |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Les Fugitives |
| Year published | 2026-07-03 |
| Number of pages | 120 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |