http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4...I am not surprisingly, considering where I currently live, drawn to novels set in Italy. This turned out to be not as atmospheric as one might have hoped, but it was still a reasonable easy read for a sunny afternoon.Romantic escapism set in England and Italy in the 1940’s and the 1970’s, the novel starts with a Prologue telling us about an honour murder committed at the end of WWII. This mystery behind this murder is finally solved in the 1970’s when Alba, the young female protagonist of the story, goes to Italy seeking the truth about her heritage.Her father Thomas Arbuckle had fallen in love with Valentina an Italian during WWII. After the war ended he returned to England with a babe in arms, Alba, but no Valentina as she is dead.In the 1970’s Alba is now a young woman who does not get on with her step-mother or step- siblings and hates country living. Thanks to her father’s generosity and desire to keep her happy, whilst refusing to ever mention her birth mother she lives a selfish life full of fun on her father’s houseboat in London. The only concession ever made to her Italian roots was encouraging her to learn Italian. As a young woman who has never met any of her mother’s relatives, or even been to Italy, she yearns to learn more about her Italian roots.It is the discovery of a portrait of her mother that finally makes Alba travel to Italy on a journey into the past which changes her future and her for ever.Although I think I understand what the author was saying in the Epilogue, I still found the ending a disappointment. Not the ending I had hoped for or expected!
After a shaky start at the first few chapters, I have to say I loved this book. I picked it randomly off my mums bookshelf when I finished my previous book today , and had nothing else to read with me.From the moment I was introduced to Alba and her family , I knew this was going to be a book with a mystery buried deep that needed solving. I must admit that at first I disliked Alba finding her a very selfish person, but on her relocation to Italy she blossomed and became a much better person. Fitzgerald was a fabulous character , however I continually felt sorry for him in the way he was treated by Alba, even though he wasn't an innocent himself and I'm glad their ending happened as it did at the end of the book, it felt truly right as if they had become full circle. For me my favorite character was Tommy , Alba's father, a gentle yet passionate man in the past, who experienced horrors that affected his life in so many ways. To seem him happy in the last few chapters, made me happy too.A great book, with an interesting mystery set in the wonderful background of Italy's Amalfi Coast.
Do You like book Last Voyage Of The Valentina (2006)?
I love anything about Italy,but I must say this was the first book I read from Santa Montefiore and I absolutely fell in love with it and her. Alba,the main character is living in Thames and was never told about her mother Valentina who is deceased. This sets her on a journey of discovery as she returns to her mother's homeland ... the olive groves of the Amalfi coast of Italy,the village of Incantellaria. Alba discovers her true self as well as her family's hidden secrets.Montefiore has a spellbound way of writing that grips you..loved every minute of reading this.
—Lorma
Santa Montefiore takes you on a breathtaking journey from the heart of London to a little bay of the coast of Sorrento - Incantellaria. The story starts at the end of the first world war with a murder then jumps ahead twenty years. It is a skillfully woven plot but it is the descriptions of Italy that will intice the reader. The author has complete mastery over the medium and one experiences the many delights of Italy through the eyes of the characters. The characters themselves are complex and the message at the heart of the book is that it is always possibly to love well, if not wisely.
—Phyl
This was another book I got given for my birthday (by my sister). This book was fantastic....once i got in to it i felt almost like Alba herself..I had to know the past. It was an intriguing and well written book that pulled on all my emotions. I loved how it began, and ended and loved the bits in the past. Characterisation was great and throughout the book i wasn't ever sure whether i liked Alba, she was almost like a roller coaster, i felt frustrated with other characters such as her father who could of stopped her childish ways by just telling the truth but we all know how hard that can be sometimes. The other most notable character to mention would be Fitz...what a wet blanket...the right decision was made there...for sure!I'd definitely read another of her books.
—Elizabeth
