Reviewed by Emma Crowley
1945. The tiny bundle in her arms barely stirs as she hurries out into the dark street. Remembering Villa Teresa, a thousand miles away in sun-soaked Italy, Betty thinks of the letter she had to write to stop the bombing and save Gianni. Instead it cost her everything… And she will never see her beloved again. Now, letting her little baby go will tear her apart, but she knows it is the only way to keep her child safe…
Naples, present day. With nothing but the name of crumbling palazzo Villa Teresa scribbled on the page, Sadie clutches the scrap of a letter she desperately hopes will help her find her birth mother. It’s her only clue to go on. But with the heady scent of fresh lemons carrying on the breeze, and handsome local guide Luca by her side, she knows in her bones this is the right place.
Then, lost in the local newspaper archives, the pair makes a shocking discovery about the woman Sadie believes is her mother… How she did something terrible during the war. Shattered, Sadie must ask herself if she should continue searching for a woman who did her best to disappear.
Deep down, Sadie knows she can’t give up. But what really happened in that beautiful palazzo all those years ago? What led a mother to give away her baby? And will uncovering this devastating secret destroy Sadie’s heart for good?
Book Challenge: #24in24 24 countries in 2024: Book Seven - Italy
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of A Letter from Italy to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
A Letter from Italy is the new novel from Rose Alexander. I really enjoyed her last book, The Lost Diary, so I was looking forward to this one. It opens with a very intriguing prologue set in London in 1945. A new mother creeps through the streets with a two day old baby and knocks upon a strangers door. A woman answers and the young girl leaves the baby with her promising that she will be back. She has an urgency about her as she is desperate to meet someone. Instantly, I wanted to know who was the girl? What were her circumstances? Who has she to meet and why? These questions along with several more ran through my mind but to get the answers the reader needs to be patient and go back to where it all began.
The book then moves back and forth between 1972 and the war years.I definitely preferred the chapters set during the war years especially when the main character goes to Italy for war work. The chapters set in the more modern day although essential to the plot didn’t hold my attention as much as they perhaps should have. I think it’s because the story of Betty in the past really caught my attention and I was keen to see how her story would develop.
Broadstairs, April 1972 and Sadie is starting the arduous task of clearing out her mother’s house following her death from cancer. Her father has been dead for ten years and now she feels this incredible sense of desolation and abandonment. Clearing out the house is a form of closure, a final goodbye although through this process she is adrift and drowning and things don’t get much better for her as when she searches through the attic she finds a box that she has never laid eyes on before marked baby. Inside she discovers baby shoes, a hand knitted hat with photographs and a birth certificate and also hidden is a wooden heart with a wooden key which has the initials GU. Sadie’s life is torn apart to discover that she had been adopted. Everything she had thought true in her life is now clearly not and she can get no immediate answers as her parents are gone.
Sadie knows that she will not find comfort, peace or acceptance until she discovers her true heritage and hopefully locate her biological parents. That’s if they are still alive. She wants to know why she was adopted and sets about seeking answers.Her journey takes her back through the steps that her birth mother made during the war and yes it was a interesting journey and Sadie learns many things as she edges ever closer to the answers she so desperately wants and needs but it was actually going back to the past and reading all about Betty that really caught my attention. I found myself rushing through chapters that featured Sadie and I became completely enamoured up with Betty’s story especially when she went to Italy. Romance does feature for Sadie and it is also a very strong and tangible feeling in the past as elements of the story woven together.
Betty’s story is one of sacrifice, bravery, courage and determination. She was a character whom you wished would follow their heart but yet she has a dedicated sense of duty and loyalty and she can’t abide doing the wrong thing as the weight of expectation falls upon her. She grows up in the Yorkshire village of Malton. Her sister has married and moved away. Her mother is dead two years and she is left to be there for her father. She is a telephonist but war has made life bland and dull for Betty and she is angry about that. Her childhood sweetheart turned fiancée Samuel is away fighting in the war but has been captured and sent to a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Devastated as she is by this news Betty wonders were they ever truly deeply in love or were they just expected by their families and society to marry and rear children?
Betty questions her feelings for Samuel continuously throughout the story and the reader can’t blame her and nor did I judge her for it as I felt she had been pushed into a situation that she wasn’t truly comfortable with. With the outbreak of war everybody’s situation changed along with their feelings and is she had harboured doubts before these were only increased tenfold when she meets Gianni, an Italian prisoner of war, being held at the local internment camp - Eden Camp. To be honest, I was quite surprised that prisoners were allowed to meet with locals aside from the work they were tasked to do in the locality. But the friendship between Betty and Gianni that strays into different territory felt real and worthwhile and I just wanted her to be happy long term but still the thoughts of Samuel imprisoned and enduring god knows what prevent her from falling 100% under his spell. She holds herself back a little bit even though the connection they have is evident and believable. Deep down, Betty understands that for many reasons he can never be hers but that doesn’t stop the longing.
When Betty receives call up letters from the war office this is the point where I felt she really came into her own. She knows if she stays she will fall even more for Gianni and loyalty to Samuel and doing what is right and expected will only continue to hold her back and bring anxiety to her father. Betty proved to be adept at code and cipher work once her training was complete. She soon found herself in a world so very different from the small village she grew up in. She is a grafter and will not let her country down and time and time again she shows that she is brave, intelligent, knowledgeable and perceptive. All these characteristics will stand her in good stead, and I found myself wanting to read more and more about her exploits especially when she is sent to Italy specifically Naples and the Villa Teresa.
I adored the chapters set in Naples. It felt like I was there myself as the author brought the setting so vividly to life. I could feel the heat and visualise the vistas and the sea but also the destruction and devastation caused by the war. The inclusion of new characters came at the right time in the book as Betty makes friends with Susan, Deborah and Lily. The details of the work she undertook in the code room were fascinating and offered an insight into the essential war work that helped save the lives of so many. I loved the inclusion of the storyline involving some espionage. It added excitement and intrigue to the story and it made my opinion of Betty rise even more. But throughout it all Betty still questions who she owes her allegiance to as does the reader. It felt clear cut to me but for her it wasn’t.
So how does Betty’s story connect back to Sadie in the present day and do both women find the answers and contentment they seek? Will Betty be strong enough to survive the onslaughts of war that she is bombarded with? Will her end loyalty lie with Gianni or Samuel? Did I get the ending I had so desperately wanted? To discover the answers you’ll have to read A Letter from Italy to discover the answers. All in all A Letter from Italy was an enjoyable read. It didn’t pack the same punch as the previous book from Rose Alexander but I am definitely glad I read it as Betty is a character whose story was full of angst, passion and indecision.
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