Many thanks to publisher Bookouture for my spot on this Blog Tour.

I don’t read many historical fiction, but when an author is recommended, then I do. This was one of them.

Alba in the present time had lost her fiancé to an accident. Heartbroken and listless, she went back home to Tuscany to her parents to get her life sorted. There she met a 90-year-old Massisimo, and his story and secrets brought Alba back to the world of living.

My first book by author Angela Perch, the prose was mesmerizing, the beauty of the story just reflected off the words like sparkling gold. There was a sense of timelessness telling me the events of the present along with taking me back to the times of strive. I felt like a river being taken in hand and shown the path to follow. I could do nothing but flow down the course of the story as it went through every bend and twisted turns. Lucia, Florian, and Massimo fascinated me with their love, and their story captivated me.

The generosity of their hearts and their capacity for love humbled me. Author Angela Perch made the story of the past and present come alive in its fluidity. Alba in the present, who got to know the entire story via Massisimo, was transformed over the pages. I loved her kindness and how she healed slowly over time.

There was enough of a mystery happening in the book that made even a non reader of this genre like me to get into the story. Angela has done a brilliant job with this book. I was completely taken over by her story.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

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?

Publication Date: February 2020