Publisher's Synopsis
In the 1960s John Fraser received an Academy Award nomination for his role in The Trials of Oscar Wilde. Long retired from the film world, John now concentrates on writing. The theme of his latest novel, The Unholy Trinity of Monstrous Madonnas, touches upon his film star past, and is set in Umbria, an area of Italy that John knows well. "I lived in Italy for over 40 years," observes John. "The country has always been a magnet for artists. In the 1980s, Umbria was untouched by mass tourism." The Unholy Trinity of Monstrous Madonnas is a witty and engrossing novel about three glamorous and ruthlessly ambitious women who converge on the medieval town of Cappone. Each woman has a dream of converting a ruin into a luxury hotel and making sacks of money. Marga is a mixed-race beauty with a racy past. India is a cockney millionairess who was a film starlet in her youth. Pumpy is an imperious middle-class snob. Their explosive personalities ignite after Marga, using her wiles on the town Mayor, organises a film festival. As the glitterati arrive _ Johnny Zago and Sofia Loren among them _ the competition between the three women escalates. Sabotage, a forest fire, even an earthquake can't stop the monstrous Madonnas. Caught amongst their cut-throat competition is Pumpy's daughter, Charlotte, who unexpectedly falls in love with an Indian internet whizz kid. Can she survive the fireworks in Umbria to have her fairytale wedding in Jaipur? Or will the three women's ruthlessness ruin her dreams? 'I wanted to write a funny and glamorous novel that celebrates strong women', notes John, 'but could not resist adding a touching love story at the heart of the novel.'
