Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Florence, 1943. A missing painting. A war-scarred city. A brave young girl on a black bicycle risking her life for the country she loved…
As the bells toll and arrogant soldiers torment her family, fourteen-year-old Gabriella is determined to act. She seeks out her old friend Stefanina, an unlikely member of the Italian resistance with her dark curls and scarlet ribbon. Soon the two girls are criss-crossing the river with deadly information in their bicycle baskets. But then one terrible day Stefanina disappears…
London 2019. Sofia is mourning the loss of her father, a famous painter. Desperate to feel closer to him, she begins to go through his paintings of wartime Florence, a time in his life he would never talk about. But then she realises one is missing…
Determined to learn more, she discovers that he had a sister she never knew about. She flies to Florence, the place of his tortured memories, to meet her aunt Gabriella, an elegant old woman living in a palazzo filled with roses. There in a little bedroom, locked away from the world, she finds the missing painting, a tiny picture of a beautiful girl with a scarlet ribbon.
As Sofia uncovers the story behind the hidden painting, a tale of extraordinary bravery and terrible betrayal emerges. But will understanding her family’s haunted past bring her peace, or further heartbreak?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon is the fifth book by Suzanne Goldring and in my opinion it’s definitely the best since her debut My Name Is Eva. Set in Florence during the later years of World War Two as the Germans invaded and took control of the famous city, this is a story of how one family’s life was torn apart by what they witnessed. How one lie can lead to so much more devastation and heartache that will last for many years.
Despite a slow enough start as the story took its time to find its rhythm and I felt it jumped around a bit and needed to find its focus but once this was achieved I found things really got going and I was totally transfixed by the remarkable and incredible story that unfolded. I have never been to Florence but have read other books set there during the war and I found some of the historical elements of the story to be familiar to me which really allowed me to concentrate more of the human stories unfolding showing how people put their lives on the line in a desperate attempt to save those finding themselves in a life of peril and danger. Whilst at the same time the people who did their best for others were themselves struggling to survive on a daily basis as the Germans noose tightened even more on the residents of Florence.
The Girl with the Scarlett Ribbon is a dual timeline story. We navigate between Gabriella and her family during the war years and in the present our attention focuses on Sofie and her mother Isobel. Sofie is the daughter of the famous painter Riccardo who has recently died. She feels the weight of responsibility on her shoulders as a retrospective of his work is being organised. Sofie has little to go by way of explanation for each painting nor is there any titles. Yet what Riccardo painted over his lifetime was vivid and somewhat disturbing. The reasons for which he never revealed to his family. The paintings are only numbered and even at that number sixteen is missing or perhaps was never painted? Sofie came across as wanting to do the best for her father now that he is gone but she is highly confused by the man as he painted what was in his head but could never find the words to express how he felt. We never actually hear from Riccardo’s viewpoint in the past element of the story so it is up to the reader as similar with Sophie to interpret just what kind of man he was or in this case a young boy during the war.
It’s testament to the brilliant writing from Suzanne Goldring that emerged the further the story developed that Riccardo became such an important and central character to the overall plot. I felt through the eyes and ears of others that he moved from being an enigma with so many secrets held close to his chest to a young boy whose voice may not have been the loudest when he uttered the spoken word but his voice roared loudly through his paintings. Especially when you discover the meanings and symbolism behind them all. Riccardo and his work became a metaphor for all that his family and so many others endured during the war. But still in the present day Sofie is struggling to make sense of it all just as much as he battled with his emotions, viewpoints and guilt in the past.
Accompanied by her mother Sofie travels to Florence on a trip all pre-arranged down to the most minute of details by Riccardo prior to his death.They set about finding out more details regarding Riccardo’s paintings. I admired that Sofie persisted in going on the trip as Isobel came across as just being the greatest pain and such a moaner. She is constantly complaining that her life has been wasted and that she never really knew Riccardo. She is full of resentment and it made me dislike her intensely. Even up until the last few chapters of the book my opinion of her and not changed and I thought really what have you to be whining about because if you knew what Riccardo and Gabriella had been through you would look at things in a whole new perspective. Sofie and Isobel’s trip is the link that binds the past and the present and lots of surprising revelations emerge especially when she discovers a sister of Riccardo’s that was never mentioned. Painful truths are revealed but will Sofie and Isobel find all the answers they seek and will what is revealed throw light on the man that was Riccardo and therefore their appreciation of what he did would grow or is it just all to much to hear and understand?
Suzanne Goldring did a fantastic job of bringing the city of Florence to life during the war years. There were such vivid and impressive descriptions of the various parts of the city but it’s the family home of Gabriella, Riccardo and their parents that really comes to life from the pages. They moved from Rome to their palazzo in Florence when their grandmother died and the palazzo almost became like a character in itself. It was their refuge amidst all the turmoil unfolding around them in the streets. The family do their small bit by hiding Jews in the attic and partisans use the basement as a meeting place, this will prove costly in more ways than one. Their mother was such a resourceful person and the descriptions of food and what she can do with the sparest amount was excellent. It was a daily uphill battle to survive once the Germans took control and certainly Riccardo and Gabriella quickly left the innocence of their childhood behind through all that they witness but also what they participate in.
Gabriella feels stifled and under pressure from her classmates, the twins Franca and Tina, and they are more or less bullies. I failed to understand the necessity of their inclusion for some time but when it dawned on me, I abhorred them even more. Gabriella is invited by the twins to Villa Triste where their father works and rules with an iron fist. She doesn’t like going there but knowing she can take some food home to her family who are starving she will persist with the visits. The visits soon become eye opening and she believes she falls in love with a guard but this will have the most disastrous of consequences. Through what she witnesses and overhears her eyes are truly opened to the horrors the Germans are inflicting. Some of the scenes on the street are quite brutal and shocking to read about but they inspire Riccardo to get everything down on paper through his painting. Gabriella also begins to show some courage and motivation becoming involved in resistance work. But to be honest my admiration for Gabriella was tainted by her one action that led to such distress and trauma. It’s clear Riccardo becomes afflicted by so many demons because of Gabriella’s irresponsible and thoughtless choice. This decision fuels a lot of the overall plot. Can Gabriella atone for the betrayal of her brother’s trust? To be honest I doubted it at times. So much guilt felt by one person all because of the reckless actions of another and it drove me mad at times that Gabriella kept schtum although her work for the resistance was trying to make up for it but I wasn’t sure if she would succeed or not.
One thing that did niggle away at me for a large portion of the book was how did the title tie in with the plot. I was on the lookout for a scarlet ribbon for ages and was beginning to think it was one of those titles that quite often have no forbearing on the plot at all. But when things did begin to fall into place, I thought the title was ingenious and it was such a powerful symbol that slotted in perfectly with the well-established themes being explored in the story. The ribbon was like a metaphor for conflict, hardship, resistance and courage and strength in the face of what seemed like insurmountable opposition. All of the characters in the past witnessed such horror, distress, pain, fear, danger and trauma and as a reader you wondered would they come through their experiences and remain unscarred? Would Sofie in the present through what she discovers realign the discord of the past? To find out make sure you read this very enjoyable book. It doesn’t feel to right to use that word given some of the graphic detail of the subject matter but I did enjoy reading this book and feel Suzanne Goldring is once again back to the fine form which I loved in her first book.
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