Up at the Villa
First edition
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| Author | W. Somerset Maugham |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Published | 1941 Heinemann |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Mixture As Before |
| Followed by | The Hour Before Dawn |
Up at the Villa is a 1941 novella by William Somerset Maugham about a young widow caught among three men: her suitor, her one-night stand, and her confidant. A fast-paced story, Up at the Villa incorporates elements of the crime and suspense novel.
The action takes place in the late 1930s. 30-year-old Mary Panton, whose extraordinary beauty has always been one of her greatest assets, has been a widow for one year. Her late husband Matthew, whom she married at 21 because she loved him, turned out to be an alcoholic, a gambler, a womaniser, and a wife-beater. Mary endures all the hardship and pain inflicted on her by her husband (including his having sex with her while drunk). When he drinks and drives, he has a car accident. A few hours later, he dies in Mary's arms. This, she concludes, is a blessing for both of them.
The Leonards (a couple who are not in the novel) offer Panton their 16th-century villa on a hill above Florence, Italy, for an extended stay. She gladly accepts the offer. The old villa is staffed by Nina, the maid, and Ciro, her husband and manservant—but it is otherwise empty. Mary, whose parents are both dead, enjoys the solitary life up at the villa. Occasionally, she joins other residents of, and visitors to, Florence for a party or luncheon. She enjoys driving round the countryside in her car. So far as a widow she has not taken a lover. She says it has been an easy decision as she has never been tempted.
During dinner at a restaurant with some of her acquaintances—among them the old Princess San Ferdinando, an American who is said to have been a "loose woman" in her day—they listen to a young man playing the violin. He is dressed in folkloric clothes and does not play well. At the end of the evening, the Princess tries to set Mary up with Rowley Flint, a young Englishman of independent means and risky reputation, by asking her to give him a lift back to his hotel. Flint makes a pass at her, but she rejects him, and laughs, even when he proposes to her.
After she has dropped him off, Mary drives back home. On her way, although it is late at night, she stops to have a look at the scenery. She senses someone nearby and learns that it is Karl Richter, the fiddler from the restaurant, who is also admiring the view. They begin to talk, and Mary learns that he is a 23-year-old Austrian art student who has fled his country because of Nazi persecution. Without a passport or documents, he is staying as an illegal immigrant in a rented room near the Leonards' villa.
Mary takes pity on Richter, and invites him to look at the paintings in the villa. Learning he had gone without dinner, Mary fixes him some bacon and eggs. They have wine with their improvised meal. They end up in bed.
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