She ran away through the pine trees when the soldiers came. Staggering into the hiding place, she felt a fluttering in her belly, like a butterfly grazing its wings, and knew instantly she had something to fight for.Present day: When her fiancé is tragically killed in an accident, twenty-six-year-old Alba is convinced she’s to blame. Heavy with grief and guilt, she flees to her childhood home – the tiny village of Rofelle, nestled in a remote Tuscan valley. Out hiking one day to fill the long, lonely hours, she finds a mahogany box filled with silverware, hidden near the vine-covered ruins of an isolated house left abandoned after World War II. Could finding the rightful owner ease Alba’s heartache, and somehow make amends for her own wrongs?
In search of answers, Alba meets Massimo, an elderly man who wants to spend his final years pruning his fruit trees, alone with his painful memories. His face turns pale when Alba brings up the war, but she senses that their shared grief connects them. An unlikely friendship grows as little by little Massimo speaks of Lucia: a wild young girl with sparkling eyes who fell in love with an enemy soldier, bravely stole precious Italian treasures back from Nazi occupiers, and whose selfless courage and sacrifice altered the course of the war – and Massimo’s life.
With each visit, Alba gets closer to unravelling the mystery of the silver, and they both start putting their ghosts to rest. But there’s one part of Lucia’s story that Massimo might never be able to share – and he’s running out of time. Has Alba churned up emotions that are too painful to ever confront? Or, will unearthing a wartime secret that has lain buried for generations finally bring Massimo peace?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Tuscan Girl to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Tuscan Girl is the second book from Angela Petch and it was just as good as her first as she transports us away to Italy to tell a story of two women separated by many years but who both endure so much whilst always trying to follow their hearts and do their best. A brief but tense prologue introduces us to Lucia in 1945 as she awakes to the smell of smoke and the sound of screams. She needs to get out as soon as possible but she knows nothing in her life will be routine any more and it's as if there is no point in her continuing on. But she is hiding something and although her heart is broken this perhaps will give her the courage and strength to battle on and push through the most difficult of times to hopefully reach a more happier and contented state of mind.
The story itself moves back and forth between Alba in the present and Lucia back during the war years. Anglea Petch carried off the dual timeline story to perfection as this time around with book two moving back and forth between two different characters and time settings I thought everything worked much more seamlessly than it had in her previous book. In The Tuscan Secret the strands of the story which focused on the past were told in a diary format and for some reason this didn't work for me whereas here we were right there with Lucia as she strives to reach her goal of becoming a doctor all amidst the backdrop of war. I felt I got to know her character very well as we were really present, as her life changes all because she fell in love with someone who was viewed as being the wrong person.
In present day London, Alba Starnucci opens the door to find a police officer standing there with bad news, her partner James has been killed in an accident. This tears Alba's world apart even more so the fact was the last time she saw James they parted on bad terms after having an argument about their future.This guilt will eat away at Alba, she feels James' death is her responsibility. So when her father and stepmother suggest she come visit them in Italy she knows she needs to take the opportunity to get away from everything. To take time out to comprehend what has happened and to try and seek some form of closure and acceptance and to free herself from the culpability that is wearing away at her. Much needed space is on offer with her parents and little does she know she will go through an experience which will provide links to the past and allow her to establish connections and seek resolution in the present.
Something started to niggle at me when Alba reaches her parents house in Italy and when I stopped to go back and check some details about the authors first book then it came to me. Alba was the young girl who featured in The Tuscan Secret and her stepmother Anna and father Francesco were the main characters in that book. I thought this was brilliant that we were getting a continuation of sorts of their story but instead we have moved forward several years and we can see how Alba has changed from the quiet girl we first met. It really was a clever way of bringing a new story to her readers whilst at the same time characters readers had been deeply invested in previously were not forgotten. I would actually love to see could the author continue this with book three or will she turn to a whole new set of characters and even a different setting?
It's clear to anyone that Alba is deeply hurting and as she takes the time to come to terms with her loss she uncovers a story that makes her want to seek answers. She walks around the countryside and mountains which surrounds her family home and high up in the ruins of an old hideaway used by the resistance fighters she believes she sees a man. Is it a trick of light or her imagination? Soon, she discovers a hidden box full of silver objects containing a crest. Immediately Alba's thoughts run riot as to their origin and with the help of Alfiero Paoli, an old schoolmate who now works in the tourist office, Alba sets out uncovering the stories of the past in the hopes of bringing about resolution for her in the present.
Massimo, who played a small role in the previous book, becomes known to Alba and as their friendship grows deeper he recollects to her his own story and how he knew Lucia. I loved the mystery element of the book as a whole and how Alba uses Lucia's story to take her mind off her own anxieties and problems but yet at the same time it was like she needed to do all this and seek answers in order to help with her own healing process. The opportunity to discover the ordinary roles that people played in the war was one not to be missed and as Lucia and her secrets had remained dormant with Massimo for so many years and there were even some elements of the story he did not know, Alba becomes the one who is worthy of discovering the truth behind the contents of the box and in turn the full story of Lucia.
Lucia was a woman ahead of her time in the fact she wasn't one who was going to leave it too late to do the things she wanted to do with her life. She knew life was precious and short even more so with the Germans rampaging across her beloved homeland. She deserved nothing but admiration for wanting to train in a male dominated world of medicine because she knew she had the fortitude to reach her goal and make changes in peoples lives. In the hills above her village resistance fighters had made so many sacrifices and endured brutality and massacres all for their country and even though she couldn't engage in the same way as they did she knew she could play a role no matter how small.
What she couldn't foretell was that her heart would be taken by an enemy soldier whose own heart is sickened by the sights of war and all he is forced to do. One would think when reading that instantly you would judge Lucia for what unfolds but you don't. We are all human and if our heart is telling us something we must follow it no matter the consequences. Lucia took risks and if discovered there would be brutal and far reaching affects. She deserved respect and to be held in high regard for what she puts herself through and I hoped Alba would discover these qualities. Both Lucia and Alba are two strong Tuscan women who are both searching for something and across the tides of time they may just find what they are looking for.
I loved joining the dots between books one and two and combined with a brilliantly plotted storyline and such glorious, vivid descriptions of the Italian landscape The Tuscan Girl was a book I really enjoyed reading. It is a prime example of a historical fiction book which brings the past to life and reminds us never to forget the sacrifices so many made so we could have our freedom today. At its centre is a story of love, loss and heartbreak but also one of sheer determination, courage and strength in times of adversity, cruelty and destruction. Angela Petch casts the spotlight on the Italian resistance of which I did not know much about before and sheds light on just one strand of many which helped to win the war. The characters jump off the pages and feel as if they could be real and this makes for an absorbing, empowering and gripping story. I look forward to where the author will take us next as she definitely as a way of bringing the past to life through such fantastic writing.
Thank you for your detailed review. I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the link between the prequel. There is actually another book out there (Now and Then in Tuscany) - Alba is 18 in that story. It is indie published. I really appreciate you wonderful bloggers. Many thanks.
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