An absorbing, well-researched saga.
Reflecting on World War I and the rise of fascism, this debut novel set in Italy envisions spirituality as a way of rising above the vicissitudes of history.
Emmy Award–winning sportscaster Physioc cites as his inspirations A Course in Miracles and a trip to the walled city of Lucca in 2005. His hero is Isabella Roselli, a convent-raised orphan who loves vegetable gardening and sells her produce at nearby markets. The summer of 1914 sees brothers Benny and Franco Carollo arguing about joining the war effort. Franco leaves Puglia for Rome to work in a munitions factory and witnesses a speech by Benito Mussolini, who at that time was a socialist wanting to stay out of the European fight. Although Franco is of the same mind, he still ends up by his brother’s side at the Isonzo Front after Italy declares war in 1915. Vivid scenes set in the trenches alternate with glimpses of Isabella’s life as a helper to Susanna Martellino, the wife of a local winemaker. When Franco returns from war, he starts working for Susanna’s husband, Giovanni, and swiftly becomes the vineyard manager, saving the vines from flooding with his quick thinking. He and Isabella marry in 1920 and start a family, but the rise of fascism—as embodied in Alfredo Obizzi, Susanna’s villainous lover—threatens the vineyard’s success and their future happiness. Lively dialogue and an authentic atmosphere keep the rapid sequence of historical events from becoming too overwhelming. Luckily, Physioc never grows heavy-handed in his presentation of the rift between fascism and socialism, and the metaphor of the city walls is convincingly applied to both ideological and class barriers. The story feels meaningful for our time of suspicion and division: “It was a time in Italy during which an accusation held almost as much power as the truth.” Isabella’s dogma-free spirituality—she values only love and forgiveness and believes in the divine spark in every person—is appealing and adds an extra dimension beyond the historical. A sequel (in progress) will pick up the story eight years later, in 1938.
An absorbing, well-researched saga.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-983749-52-0
Page Count: 508
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hannah, after eight paperbacks, abandons her successful time-travelers for a hardcover life of kitchen-sink romance. Everyone must have got the Olympic Peninsula memo for this spring because, as of this reading, authors Hannah, Nora Roberts, and JoAnn Ross have all placed their newest romances in or near the Quinault rain forest. Here, 40ish Annie Colwater, returns to Washington State after her husband, high-powered Los Angeles lawyer Blake, tells her he’s found another (younger) woman and wants a divorce. Although a Stanford graduate, Annie has known only a life of perfect wifedom: matching Blake’s ties to his suits and cooking meals from Gourmet magazine. What is she to do with her shattered life? Well, she returns to dad’s house in the small town of Mystic, cuts off all her hair (for a different look), and goes to work as a nanny for lawman Nick Delacroix, whose wife has committed suicide, whose young daughter Izzy refuses to speak, and who himself has descended into despair and alcoholism. Annie spruces up Nick’s home on Mystic Lake and sends “Izzy-bear” back into speech mode. And, after Nick begins attending AA meetings, she and he become lovers. Still, when Annie learns that she’s pregnant not with Nick’s but with Blake’s child, she heads back to her empty life in the Malibu Colony. The baby arrives prematurely, and mean-spirited Blake doesn’t even stick around to support his wife. At this point, it’s perfectly clear to Annie—and the reader—that she’s justified in taking her newborn daughter and driving back north. Hannah’s characters indulge in so many stages of the weeps, from glassy eyes to flat-out sobs, that tear ducts are almost bound to stay dry. (First printing of 100,000; first serial to Good Housekeeping; Literary Guild/Doubleday book club selections)
Pub Date: March 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-609-60249-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
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