From New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen comes a haunting novel about a woman who braves her father’s hidden past to discover his secrets…In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between … love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.
Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.
Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history–and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now…
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The dialogue was occasionally stilted, but overall an enjoyable read.
This was a very good book. Well plotted, interesting topic and held my interest throughout. Recommend.
WONDERFUL book!! I had no idea about what would come next in the story. And the ending could not have been better!!
I loved it!!!
Thoroughly enjoyed this book!
I really enjoyed this book.
Interesting story. Plot contrived. Events happen so that story had result author had in mind. Artificial
I loved the interesting twist at the end of this book. I found the characters engaging and the plots interesting.
Good Story, good writing.
This is what I would call a fun book. It’s ok. A very light read. The plot is not particularly clever and the characters lack depth. But as a super light holiday by the pool read – it does the job.
Rhys Bowen has a knack of drawing the reader in from the very first page until the last, and this book is no exception.
A dual time line set in Tuscany and England during WW2 and the early 1970s, this has a cliffhanger at the end of nearly every chapter.
Brilliantly written; I just couldn’t put it down.
I had a hard reading, I couldn’t concentrate on the story, and I kept going back to see what timeline I was reading. The writing itself is very fluent, but the story is quite trite, and the combination of several timelines made it difficult for me.
This book contains a banal plot that blends beautifully in the history of the war and in our times and has been written in two timelines. The beautiful landscape and food descriptions and elegant writing make the book more bearable, but nothing more.
A poignant wartime story of love, human courage and betrayal. Rhys Bowen’s fluid, graceful style woos the reader and perfectly captures the tense atmosphere in occupied Italy. “The Tuscan Child” will linger in the mind and the soul long after the last page is turned.
I enjoyed the story and the way the author bounced back and forth from the history to the “present.” It seemed a little fanciful and there were some unanswered things in the story, but I enjoyed it non-the-less.
Nicely done.
Give me a book, any book. One that begins in the Second World War and I will read it eagerly when at the end of it probably will come many stars. But when such a book comes in that combines now and then, history and romance with Italian aroma – that’s when I am melting. Well, that’s me, and that’s my judgment.
And now a brief of its plot –
Joanna returns to her childhood home on an English estate to collect the belongings of her deceased father. The father, who was a pilot in World War II and returned home after an injury, left behind a mysterious letter that causes Joanna to look for him in Tuscany.
The plot moves on two lines, one of Hugo (the deceased father) in war and of present-day Joanna.
Of course, the search for what written in the letter brings Joanna closer to her father memory more than when he was alive.
All that time, in the background, are the beautiful views of Tuscany, and the incredible food with parmesan and tomatoes and basil, yam.
And as for the rest, you can read it yourself in this beautiful book.
Loved the characters and the fact that it spans two generations from WW11 to 1973. A story about a downed British pilot in Tuscany, his Italian savior and then later his Daughter trying to find out the story of his time in Tuscany and the woman who saved him. The two stories blend well and are interesting about the time in Italy during the war. Love it.
I love the genre of historical fiction and this is certainly better than average. The characters are intriguing and so is the story line. Completely recommend.
Interesting story
I could not put it down and the characters remained with me long after I finished the book.