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 – … 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?
An absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking read that will sweep you away to the rugged mountains and lush olive groves of Tuscany. Fans of The Nightingale, Rhys Bowen and Julianne MacLean will be captivated.
Read what everyone’s saying about The Tuscan Girl:
‘Loved it!!!… Beautiful description of the landscape… heartbreaking… The ending of the book was perfect… Definitely recommend… Loved everything about it.’ Goodreads Reviewer
‘I don’t even know where to begin… beautiful… I absolutely adored this book… The picture that the author paints is both beautiful and devastating… the descriptions are so detailed, I could actually picture it in my mind.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘The mysteries and the discoveries come fast and furiously: leaving the reader often gasping for breath… A lovely read.’ I am, Indeed
‘Mesmerizing… captivated me… Angela Petch made the story of the past and present come alive… brilliant… I was completely taken over.’ Book Reviews by Shalini, 5 stars
‘Omg! I loved this book!… amazing story of The Tuscan Girl!’ Goodreads Reviewer
‘This book did not disappoint… heartbreaking… wonderful descriptions of the beautiful Italian countryside… beautifully done… Highly recommend reading.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘The prose was mesmerizing, the beauty of the story just reflected off the words like sparkling gold… captivated me… Angela Petch made the story of the past and present come alive… I was completely taken over.’ Shalini’s Books & Reviews, 5 stars
‘A fantastic book… this is historical fiction at its finest… an excellent read.’ North of Nonsense South of Sophisticated
‘Very powerful and heartbreaking story about love and loss… riveting book that I really enjoyed.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 starsmore
Beautiful and heartbreaking read about Tuscany during World War II.
Fantastico!
An absolutely brilliant sequel to The Tuscan Secret.
Reflections to the past during and after World War 2, the atrocities of war and the survivors. A well written and researched account of life during these trying times in Tuscany, and how the past and present link up.
A book I cannot recommend highly enough.
I’m not going to beat around the bush; the author is a friend, but that is not why I love this book – I would love it whoever had written it, except nobody would have written it quite like Angela Petch.
It’s easy to say a book transports you somewhere, but the author knows Tuscany so well and portrays her love of the region with such skilful language, you are instantly there. And because you feel so much at home it is easy to dive into the lives of the characters, as though you are right at their elbows.
The Tuscan Girl is a beautiful story that doesn’t fall into any of the usual tropes. Love takes many forms and both the World War Two narrative and its present day counterpart weave together in sometimes surprising ways, which makes it all the more magical.
The best book I have read so far this year.
The Tuscan Girl tells two stories. The first is the love story between Lucia, a Tuscan girl, and Florian, a German soldier, who met during the German occupation of Italy in WW II. The second story focuses on Alba, WW II veteran Massimino, and Alba’s friend Alfieri. The two stories intertwine as Alba becomes passionate about discovering Massimino’ and Lucia’s lives during the war. This book was fabulous (even though it started out slow and took a while to get into). Life and relationships have ups and downs, regardless of the time frame, and the author illustrates this beautifully.
Travel to Tuscany through the pages of this book. This was a look at Italy through two eras. The depiction of how Italy was devastated by Mussolini helps the reader understand the heart and soul of the Italian people. And the unfolding story of the relationship between the modern-day protagonist and the old Italian soldier is heart warming and fascinating.
Beautiful descriptions of Italy and Italian foods. Intriguing WW 2 stories and the many people affected by the war.
Love this author. Loved the Tuscan Girl story. Highly recommend.
I like the two time/place method of demonstrating the foibles and principles of humans in any time or place.
I am a great fan of historical novels especially when based on actual events. This story was beautifully written weaving the past and present masterfully well. The characters were believable. Hope to read the other books by this author.
I loved the characters and the plot that went back and forth between the war and now. A good read as the characters stay with you after the book is finished.
Enjoyable Read!
What a great read! Interesting, realistic, yet very different storyline; well-planned character development; each chapter makes you want to move on to the next one.
I genuinely enjoyed reading this book.
I really like it. I have done a lot of reading about WWII in the last several years, but this is the only one showing the part that Italy played. Lots of new understandings about POW camps.
I have a new appreciation for Italy, especially Tuscany.
This book had so many things going from, so many interwoven stories. I loved the Historical aspect, learning what went on in Italy (Tuscany) during WWII, and the characters were strong so you could really get to know them.
A wonderful book about Italy during Wirlx War II and present day. Very well written and a page turner. It showed an insight into the effects the war had on people.
Good character writing
A beautiful and emotional dual timeline novel. In the modern-day, Alba returns to her family in Italy to recover from heart-break and forms a close relationship with a lovely old fella Massimo. Gradually she learns of Massimo and Lucia’s war-time experiences and this helps him – and her – recover. There are a lot of different strands here, but when they all come together and you realise how inter-connected it all is, its absolutely brilliant – I don’t know how Angela kept all these storylines up in the air but she did it fantastically. The characters are realistic and sympathetic – and many of them had to endure the most terrible things. The relationship between Alba and Massimo was especially wonderful – the very definition of heart-warming – and I loved that the story didn’t take the easy way out or provide simplistic resolutions but showed that war is terrible and it brutalizes those who go through it. This is a multi-layered story, full of characters to love, dilemmas to empathize with, compassion, atmosphere and gorgeous foods – the descriptions of Italian scenery and cooking here are second to none. And there’s a wolf-cub! What more could you want?!
Alba is reeling from a catastrophic break-up with her boyfriend in London. They’ve been together for years, but in an unexpected twist, James breaks up with her. A tragic accident sends Alba into a deep depression. Her family and friends are deeply concerned, will she recover from the fatal relationship?
Alba returns to her parents home in Tuscany to recover mentally and figure out her new life directions. A chance holiday dinner encounter brings her in touch with Massimo, an older man from the village with a bittersweet WWII past. As Alba regains her mental footings, she reaches out to the man with the war torn past, listening to his sometimes tragic and heartwarming lessons of experiences and relationships gone-by. Will the gift of life’s insights help heal her wounded heart?
Author Petch gives us an insightful read on dealing with heartbreak, tragedy and new directions in the present, guided by the sagas, dreams and lessons learned from the past. A delightful life journey filled with visual descriptions that transport you to the scene. A moving historical fiction tale, highly recommended!
This book was such a beautiful well researched historical fiction story that was told in two timelines. The story was truly heartfelt, powerful and heartbreaking too. The story was set in England and Tuscany in the 1940’s in the midst of the second world war as well as present day Tuscany. Alba was reeling from a loss after a tragic accident kills her fiancée. She goes back home to a small village in Tuscany to recover and take the time to heal from the sudden grief. While there, she befriends Massimo and their friendship and the stories they share between each other connects them with their own grief. I thought that the writing was exceptional. The character development was well written as well as all the descriptions from that time which comes from a very well researched story telling. This was an emotional read that was also beautifully written. A must read for Historical Fiction fans.
Historical fiction is often told from a singular point of view, but that is not the case here. The author approaches the WWII sections from the perspectives of multiple people, which covers more ground, as the characters have different experiences. This, in turn, allows the reader to gain a deeper insight to the lasting effects of war. I also thought the contemporary storyline dovetailed nicely with the historical sections, as it was easy to draw character comparisons. The Tuscan landscape comes alive through vivid descriptions. Actually, there is great detail in every location. I recommend this book for the differing personal stories and the overall arc. For a full review, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital pre-release ARC of the book.