Elizabeth B. (Cattriona) - reviewed on 12/12/2010 + 200 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

The first part of this novel was enjoyable -- the author has clearly spent a great deal of time in Italy, and is able to give the reader a good sense of a place without being wordy. Unfortunately, the bulk of the story relies too heavily on a string of "oh, isn't that convenient" events and characters with overly-modern speech and philosophies, which snowball until the story becomes nearly unreadable. The need for "suspension of disbelief" is great here, but the story is not fantastic enough to create such a suspension. Despite the weighty topics including immigration, rape, abortion, and 19th century medical practices, the book ends up feeling very light and more like a short story (which is what the author wrote originally for the main character).
Note: This review was based on an Advance Reader's Edition.

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