Blurb:
Serena
Burton is a shy and disillusioned young English woman holidaying on the
Mediterranean island of Malta finds romance with the hotel manager, Luigi
Coletti. She also finds herself deeply involved in the life of an elderly
writer, Louisa Weston.
As Serena gradually
discovers Louisa’s strange past she is drawn into a tangled web of hidden
mysteries which are slowly uncovered, but at a high price…
A Tangled Web – Extract 1
“Not a very nice evening” said Mr. Coletti the hotel
manager, when Serena approached the desk to leave her keys.
“I’m just going for a short walk before dinner,” she
replied shyly.
“Better take an umbrella then.”
“I don’t think I’ll bother,” she laughed. “I won’t be
too long anyway.”
She stepped outside and cautiously looked right and
left before crossing the road onto the sea side promenade. Ominous dark clouds
were gathering fast in the horizon and grayish blue waves splashed angrily
against the white rocks, spraying her lips with salty droplets.
Serena was no stranger to this small Mediterranean
island, but she had always come at the peak of hot and dry summers when the
blinding brightness of the sky merged with the staggering azure blue of the
sea. She never expected in a million years to find this sort of unremitting
British drizzle soaking her hair through and through, nor an icy wind blowing
on her face and making her eyes watery.
She looked in disbelief at the threatening sky and
hoped the drizzle would not worsen. Forcibly she wiped her mouth with the back
of her hand, and then walked briskly with her head down. She stopped abruptly
out of breath and leaned against the silvery railings that ran all along in a
wide bend. What on earth possessed her to come over here in the middle of this
bleak and unusually cold winter? It was less than three weeks since she had
that terrible row with Harry after catching him cheating with her best friend
Susan. Seething with anger she broke off their engagement, but was so wretched
and miserable that she felt like crawling in a dark corner or disappearing from
the face of the earth.
A few days later, a stupid argument at work exploded
into a major crisis. Full of hurt pride, she rebuffed any words of sympathy
offered by her boss, and promptly resigned from her position as private
secretary with a reputable industrial firm. She immediately moved out of her
cozy little apartment in Putney and grabbed one of those last minute holiday
deals to the island of Malta, where they offered travelers four weeks for the
price of three. Perhaps the change of scenery would help her get over the
emotional roller-coaster ride she was on. A relaxing getaway may lead to a
fresh start. She had to try.
The promenade was almost deserted and the vast expanse
of turbulent water was swelling under the blustery wind. Serena was so dejected
and full of self-pity that her eyes filled with tears, but no matter where or
when, the sea had always a soothing effect on her. Unlike a desert where its
vastness and desolate emptiness exudes fear and wonder, the sea with its
interchangeable moods of calm and rough had a mysticism of its own which for
some unknown reason Serena was the most comfortable near it. And this kind of
weather perfectly suited her present frame of mind.
Her tears were washed away by the rain and she tightly
gripped the metal railing that ran the length of the promenade until her
fingers hurt. She inhaled the fresh, revitalizing ozone bringing her back to
life. Serena was about to turn back, when at a distance she glimpsed the shape
of a man sitting on one of the rocks protruding into the sea at the base of the
low cliffs beneath where she was standing. Against the darkening sky he looked
more like a gray shadow, yet she could still notice a sort of naval cap pulled
down below his forehead and a few shiny buttons glittering on a dark reefer
coat.
Normally her first reaction would be to run in the
opposite direction, but a compelling urge pushed her forward to that blurred
figure, and her imagination started to run wild. Was he a seaman home on leave
after a long exotic voyage? Or, was he simply a stranger who, like her, was
taking a stroll, indifferent to the elements? The man seemed totally unaware of
her presence and was focusing only on the foaming sea. The incandescent light
of a pale moon came peeping through the thick clouds, and for an instant, two
very dark eyes stared blankly back at Serena.
A gust of wind forced her to turn away and, when she
looked back, the man seemed to have vanished. Had he gone down the other side
of the rocks, or was her imagination playing tricks?
With a deep sigh, she tied her white woolen scarf
firmly under her chin and resumed her brisk walk to the hotel just in time to
change for dinner.
Author bio:
Viviane Elisabeth Borg (née Fleri)
was born in Alexandria, Egypt on 15th
January 1925 at a time when the Country was under a ruling monarchy which
permitted a predominant European influence to flourish. This gave Egypt and
Alexandria in particular a distinctive cosmopolitan and flamboyant lifestyle.
Despite being born British of Maltese descent she had a totally Italian
upbringing and received an extensive French education at the French Lycée. Being a great lover of poetry and
literature she aspired at becoming a writer but her
studies were cut short as World War II erupted over Europe. She
married on 26th October 1946 and gave birth to three
children. In 1952 her husband, Hubert, obtained a managerial position at a
shipping agency at the small town of Port Said. They lived there happily until
political disruptions between the Egyptian government and Anglo-French
interests in the Suez Canal Zone resulted in military intervention. The result
of the week-long conflict in 1956, which became known in history as the Suez
Crisis, forced the evacuation of all European nationals out of Egypt. Viviane
and her family were compelled to abandon their home and all assets and leave
their country as political refugees. They set up a new home in
London where they became a magnet for the rest of their family.
In 1997 she wrote and self-published a memoir entitled When the Wind Blows.
Proceeds from the sale of the book were donated to Cancer Research in memory of
Hubert who died of bowel cancer in 1989. Poetic Whispers a poetry
anthology was published on Smashwords in 2013. A Tangled Web is her only other completed book. Viviane
now resides in the south of France near Cannes.
Contact links:
Twitter: @ VivianeEBorg1
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