This elegantly written novella tells the story of Mary Panton, a beautiful and wealthy young English widow marking time in Italy during the “long weekend” between the World Wars and wondering whether she should marry an older suitor. It’s a romantic thriller in exquisite, minimalist prose (seriously, Maugham wrote fiction the way Count Basie played piano), and it turns on an impulsive decision to offer a ride to a handsome stranger in the middle of the night.

Full of keen insight into human behavior, the novella is a gripping and suspenseful tale. Not a word is wasted, and you can finish it in an evening (ideally, before driving around the hills above Florence whimsically hoping for a life-changing adventure).

And of the suitor Mary finally chooses? It’s not a spoiler to say that she ends up falling for the one who quotes Samuel Johnson to her.

NOVEL: Up At The Villa

AUTHOR: W. Somerset Maugham

YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1941

IMAGE: book cover, Vintage