As I mentioned a few reviews ago, I have been on a bit of a historical fiction kick lately. I have learned a lot about little-known events, and I find the stories to be a nice break from crime procedurals and psychological thrillers. Most of the ones I have read so far are WWII, but I don’t think I could ever get tired of that setting.
Kobo: http://bit.ly/3bniZhP
Apple Books: https://apple.co/37bPAEc
Google Play: http://bit.ly/37hmvXM
I was excited to come across The Italian Villa because (according to the cover) it contained both Italy and WWII. While the first half of that is undoubtedly right, I feel like the WWII historical romance claim is a bit misleading.
That’s not to say that the story wasn’t appealing. Who couldn’t root for an orphan who discovers a whole different life in a small Italian town? The events that led to this skimmed along and served their purpose. I did feel that it happened a little bit fast, so I didn’t get a good grip on Callie from the very start – only that she was an orphan. I did get to know her better once she was in Italy, though, and her journey was heartwarming.
The contemporary scenes far outweigh the WWII scenes, which is why I have a little bit of an issue with this being called a WWII historical romance. That’s not to say that there isn’t any, because there is. It just takes the form of diary entries that Callie reads when she needs a break from the issues at hand.
For this reason, I didn’t get the full scope of Elisa’s romance/story. It is difficult to get caught up in diary entries because they are very static. I think the author did a fine job of trying to convey Elisa’s story, and there were times when I felt her emotion. But if the author was trying to parallel Elisa’s story with Callie’s, that didn’t work for me.
The other thing I found interesting was that it doesn’t appear that Montevino exists in Italy. A caveat: I am a history-lover, and have studied multiple periods extensively. If I read about something, it is my nature to look it up to find more information. So, this next part might just be unique to me.
In my Google searches, I did not find anything historic about Montevino. The only mention I could find was a vineyard in the Sierra Foothills of California. I understand that the author was possibly trying to be representative of what happened in many small Italian towns during the rise of Mussolini, but it was odd not to have an actual event or location to build the story around.
I did think that the author did a good job of illustrating the evils of fascism, especially as evidenced by Elisa’s parents’ attitudes. They were accurate and astute in their observations.
For what the book actually was, I thought it was a good read. However, if you are looking for an honest to goodness historical romance, diary entries might not be enough for you.
Author Bio
Daniela Sacerdoti is a phenomenon. Over one million copies of her novels have been sold in eBook, her debut novel Watch Over Me was the eighth bestselling Kindle book of all time in 2015 and she was also ranked as the eleventh top-selling Kindle author.
Daniela writes beautiful, haunting and bestselling fiction for adults (the Glen Avich series), young adults (the Sarah Midnight trilogy) and children. Her novels have been translated in twelve languages.
Daniela was born and raised in Italy. She studied Classics, then lived in Scotland for fourteen years, where she married and taught in a primary school. Daniela’s children’s book Really WeirdRemovals.Com was shortlisted for the Scottish Children’s Book Awards. She has also written for the BBC.
Daniela, her husband and their two sons make their home in a tiny village in the Alps. To discover more about Daniela and her world, visit www.danielasacerdoti.com. @DanielaSacerdo3
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