The Cotswold Arrangement by Rosemary Turner

A modern adaptation of The Marriage of Figaro

A comedy of marriage, infidelity, social ambition, concealed identities and the quiet struggle between those who possess inherited wealth and those who must work for it.

Setting: Modern-day Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, principally around Chipping Campden, Broadway and the surrounding villages.

Principal characters

• James Fletcher – An intelligent, resourceful estate manager who has worked his way up from modest beginnings.
• Sophie Bennett – James's fiancée, a capable and attractive events manager at the estate.
• Richard Ashcombe – The wealthy owner of Ashcombe Manor, charming in public but accustomed to getting his own way.
• Victoria Ashcombe – Richard's elegant wife, increasingly disillusioned by her husband's behaviour.
• Oliver Price – A young personal assistant at the manor, infatuated with Victoria.
• Margaret Collins – The estate's housekeeper, a determined woman who has worked for the Ashcombe family for many years.
• Helen Collins – A retired local businesswoman who has an unexpected connection to James's past.