I was really surprised by this book. I was expecting a slightly fluffy, chick-lit type of story, and I am pleased to say that I was wrong!
This book definitely has depth to it, and weaves a rich tapestry for the reader. You have a tragic love story combined with a crash course in Italian politics and a 30 year old covered-up murder being investigated by Lottie, our protagonist, who herself has a chequered past.
This book held my attention very easily. I am fascinated by 20th Century history and the politics and paranoia surrounding the Cold War, but I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Italy's story during this period - this book did a good job of explaining what was going on without getting too bogged down in the politics and distracting from the main story. It was just enough to flesh out the story, and give the reader some background information as to why things in the story happened the way they did.
The writing itself is superb! The descriptions of artwork and paintings in particular had me captivated, and I was able to build up a really clear picture in my head of what the characters were looking at. I adored the author's descriptions of Rome itself too - I have never been to Rome, but again, I was able to build up a mental map in my head, and it was almost like I was there.
Overall, I would recommend this book. You do need to concentrate on the story properly to understand what is going on, but that is honestly no effort at all as the whole thing is very well written and captivating, in my opinion. A perfect book for the summer.
This book definitely has depth to it, and weaves a rich tapestry for the reader. You have a tragic love story combined with a crash course in Italian politics and a 30 year old covered-up murder being investigated by Lottie, our protagonist, who herself has a chequered past.
This book held my attention very easily. I am fascinated by 20th Century history and the politics and paranoia surrounding the Cold War, but I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Italy's story during this period - this book did a good job of explaining what was going on without getting too bogged down in the politics and distracting from the main story. It was just enough to flesh out the story, and give the reader some background information as to why things in the story happened the way they did.
The writing itself is superb! The descriptions of artwork and paintings in particular had me captivated, and I was able to build up a really clear picture in my head of what the characters were looking at. I adored the author's descriptions of Rome itself too - I have never been to Rome, but again, I was able to build up a mental map in my head, and it was almost like I was there.
Overall, I would recommend this book. You do need to concentrate on the story properly to understand what is going on, but that is honestly no effort at all as the whole thing is very well written and captivating, in my opinion. A perfect book for the summer.