There are two narratives. One is
set in 1944; Hugo Langley, an RAF pilot is shot down over German-occupied
Italy. Wounded, he takes shelter in a
ruined monastery where he is found and assisted by a local woman. The other narrative is set in 1973; Joanna
Langley, after her father’s death, discovers a love letter he wrote to a woman
in Tuscany named Sofia Bartoli. The
letter makes reference to “our beautiful boy” so Joanna sets off for Italy to
find out what happened to Sofia and this child.
Her arrival in San Salvatore soon has Joanna connected to a murder.
Joanna is a character with whom it is difficult to connect. She did not have a close relationship with
her father and visited him rarely, so doesn’t really grieve when he dies. But then she sets out to discover all about
his past in Italy? She is supposed to be
preparing for her bar exam but never once opens a book to study. She is 25 years old, but she has never heard
of “a cheese called mozzarella”? At
best, she can be described as insipid.
Other characters are also problematic.
Paola is too nice and welcoming.
Why she takes such a liking to Joanna makes no sense. Renzo constantly vacillates; on first meeting
he greets Joanna with a “cold stare” and “obvious hostility” and “a scathing
look” and on second meeting he asks briskly, “’Why are you still here?’” And then at their third meeting, he’s
defending her to his father and a romance begins? One minute he is helpfully answering Joanna’s
questions but then he blurts out, “’No good can come from this search. You should go home. Leave this place. I have a feeling it is not safe for you to be
here’” before immediately taking her to a location to help her search? Renzo admits to owing everything good in his
life to someone, yet when that person dies, he is more focused on romancing a
woman he barely knows than grieving? One
minute he says, he “’had no idea, no idea’” of someone’s crimes but then in the
next breath admits, “’I did suspect that he had some part in the death’” of a
murdered man?
What’s with the repeated descriptions of food? I understand the need for local colour, but
it is not really necessary to give a lesson on how to make stuffed zucchini
blossoms or pici. Every course of every meal
does not need to be recounted in detail.
The climactic scene is just so coincidental and implausible. A stroke victim becomes spry, an earthquake
occurs at a convenient time, a suitor makes an international trip and arrives
at the perfect moment, and a man whose memory is failing makes a deathbed
confession?! And could the ending be any
cheesier?!
To sum, I was certainly underwhelmed by this book. There is little tension, no sense of urgency,
in the plot, characters are bland and behave inconsistently, the climax relies
on coincidence, and the conclusion is just too perfect.
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