Tag Archives: Angela Petch

#BookReview ‘The Lost Garden’ by Angela Petch #WW2 #Italy

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A World War Two journey from innocence to experience in the harshest and cruellest of conditions. The Lost Garden by Angela Petch tells the story of Contessina Ernestina di Montesecco, better known as Tina, as war comes to the picturesque village of Sant’Agnese in Romagna and brings with it a canker to the heart of Tina’s beautiful home. Angela PetchAngela Petch is a talented storyteller using Italy, a country she knows well and loves, as the complex setting for her novels. The Lost Garden is no exception. The beauty of the village and countryside is juxtaposed with the rottenness of life in Mussolini’s Italy. There is wealth and poverty, fascism and communism, profiteering and charity. Divisions are fostered, mistrust is everywhere, secrets are kept close and no one is trusted.
An intriguing Prologue gives us a glimpse of the novel’s ending. In 1946 in the Castle of Montesecco, a woman is making plans. The war has ended but the resentments, mistrust, revenge and hatred continue. And then the main story begins in 1939. The first half of the novel is slow-moving as the character and background of Tina is established. Following the death of her mother in childbirth, Tina’s difficult relationship with her father is counter-balanced by the support from housekeeper Allegra and from the circle of friends Tina has grown up with. No one is untouched by the war, each detail of their life is affected. Tina’s father continues to treat her as a child though she is now a young woman. He employs an Austrian woman as her governess, sells her beloved horse Baffi and introduces her to a succession of eligible men from his fascist circle.
As the hardship of war worsens, the ties that bind Tina and her friends together become fractured. As her father’s links to the Nazis become brazen, some villagers shun Tina in the assumption that she supports her father. This is when Tina’s rebellious nature begins to dominate, encouraged by her pharmacist friend Luisa and partisans Olivio and Sergio. Central to the story is a secret garden within the castle walls. Made by her mother as a place of comfort and safety, it has been hidden away by Tina’s father. Finding her mother’s gardening notebook, Tina secretly begins to restore the garden to its glory, taking risks, and in so doing matures into a brave young woman unafraid to challenge the wrongs around her.
An interesting but slow story that finally packs a punch towards the end. I admit I struggled to maintain concentration in the first half but the pace, danger, brutality and risk speed up substantially after the halfway point. The ghostly voice of Tina’s mother floats in and out, adding context to Tina and the family. The garden is central to Tina’s life, a symbol of her mother’s rebellion in an unhappy marriage and of Tina’s own rebellion against her autocratic fascist father. She knows she must choose a side in the war and the garden is symbolic of this. Not only is it a space of respite for Tina it also becomes a haven for the partisans.
A sad story of the effects of war on close communities driven apart by diverging political affiliations, the deprivations of poverty and the things people must do to survive, followed by the swingeing judgement that follows when peace finally arrives.

Here are my reviews of other novels also by Angela Petch:-
THE GIRL WHO ESCAPED
THE POSTCARD FROM ITALY
THE SICILIAN SECRET
THE TUSCAN SECRET

If you like this, try:-
‘Akin’ by Emma Donoghue
‘The Secret Shore’ by Liz Fenwick
‘The Silence in Between’ by Josie Ferguson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE LOST GARDEN by Angela Petch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-9Wd via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Verity Bright

#BookReview ‘The Sicilian Secret’ by Angela Petch #WW2 #romance

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Angela Petch knows how to tell a good World War Two romance. Her latest The Sicilian Secret blends a wartime romance with a 1973 mystery about parentage. There are lots of surprises along the way and a fascinating portrayal of Sicily during the Allied invasion of 1943. Angela Petch When Paige Caister’s beloved Aunt Florence dies suddenly, she inherits not only Squirrels cottage in Suffolk where Paige grew up with Flo, but also a box of mementoes. There is a necklace, a note to Paige which is unfinished and promising to ‘tell you everything,’ and an old airmail letter addressed to someone called Joy. This box sets Paige off on a journey of discovery, away from the life she thought she wanted.
The two major locations in this novel – rural Suffolk, and the south-eastern corner of Sicily – are vividly drawn. Mourning her aunt, Paige is thankful for the love of the Suffolk countryside, the trees and foxes, the kingfishers, that Flo gave her. As Paige follows the at first incomprehensible clues, she finds herself heading for Sicily seeking answers to questions she doesn’t really know.
In 1927 we meet a young Italian-British man, born in London to parents who recently emigrated from Sicily. Savio, called a ‘dirty Tally’ by schoolmates, wonders what it would be like to be a proper Italian, born in Sicily. When war breaks out, Savio and his parents are interned as ‘enemy aliens’ on the Isle of Man. Telling everyone that he was born in London and is English, Savio is ignored. He responds with his fists and is punished. His luck changes when a sympathetic British officer recognises his courage, resilience and determination.
In 1943, Lady Joy Harrison, leaves her over-bearing mother to take up an offer with a secret Government organisation. Tall and not ‘a girl’s girl,’ Joy’s fluent Italian leads her to a tough outdoor base in Scotland where she meets a young Italian determined to prove himself. What happens next is a time-old story of love in wartime; intense, real, fleeting, full of love and despair. Two characters, bonded by their difficulty in fitting in with society’s expectations, must decide whether to risk being true to themselves.
This is dual-timeline novel told from four perspectives; Joy, Savio, Paige and Florence. The story moves slowly at first as the author builds the picture, but the pace picks up as Paige’s investigation takes her to Italy. The ending is rather abrupt and the mystery perhaps predictable, but the journey of the wartime characters is engaging. The need to find out what happened to Joy and Savio made me read the book quickly over a weekend. This is a book to sink into and lose yourself in.

Here are my reviews of other novels also by Angela Petch:-
THE GIRL WHO ESCAPED
THE LOST GARDEN
THE POSTCARD FROM ITALY
THE TUSCAN SECRET

If you like this, try:-
‘The Collaborator’s Daughter’ by Eva Glyn
‘The Secret Shore’ by Liz Fenwick
‘Love in a Time of War’ by Adrienne Chinn #1FRYSISTERS

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SICILIAN SECRET by Angela Petch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-89Y via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Robert Thorogood

#BookReview ‘The Girl Who Escaped’ by Angela Petch #WW2

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World War Two drama The Girl Who Escaped by Angela Petch is a heartbreaking slow-burner that had me reading late at night to finish it. Angela PetchThe story about four friends in the small Italian town of Urbino begins with a Prologue set in 1988. Enrico, waiting for a reunion with his childhood friends, looks at a photograph of them taken fifty years earlier, before the war, on a mountain hike. Young. Carefree. Unsuspecting.
In 1940 in Urbino, 20-year-old medical student Devora Lassa is struggling to accept how her movements, as a Jew, are now limited by law. She is unable to study, is seen as different. Sabrina Merli, who has a long-standing crush on Conte Enrico di Villanova, is jealous at a party when Enrico greets Devora with a kiss on both cheeks. Luigi Michelozzi, a civil servant, watches, quiet and thoughtful.
After the party, Devora’s world is thrown into chaos when her father explains the hard truth. Tomorrow, Italy will enter the war on the side of Germany and the racial laws applying to Jewish people will again be changed. Her parents, who were born in Germany but are Italian citizens, must leave in the morning for an internment camp near Arezzo. Their Jewish neighbours, not Italian citizens, are being deported. As Devora and her two younger twin brothers were born in Italy they are able to stay in the family home in Urbino but now Devora, helped by their maid Anna Maria, must become parents to the boys.
This the story of Devora, whose life within a matter of hours changes out of all recognition. She is the girl who escapes a multitude of times, but in wartime Italy it is difficult to know where is safe, who is trustworthy, strangers who help, friends who change sides, neighbours who spy, Italians who are fascists or partigianos (resistance fighters), German soldiers who are fascists and torturers or world-weary soldiers missing their own families. Every decision Devora makes affects not just herself but those closest to her. When Luigi warns her to leave Urbino, the three siblings are reunited with their parents at Villa Oliveto, the internment camp turned into a Jewish community by its inmates, with gardening, theatre, medical treatment. But is anywhere safe?
Devora runs and runs again, and comes to hate herself for not turning and fighting. When she joins the resistenza, she needs every ounce of bravery, ingenuity and intelligence to survive. But in Urbino, no-one can predict who will betray you, who wants to help, who is setting a trap. She is a fantastic heroine, we live with her day-by-day as she begins to understand what is happening to her country, as she grows from indignant student to strong fighter. She must learn to move in the shadows, how to act a role, when to keep quiet and when step forwards. Her character development is compelling. Luigi is fascinating too, his job registering births and deaths allows him to falsify records to protect people. We see a little of Enrico, an arrogant, flashy personality who I had no time for, and even less of Sabrina. I needed to know more about Sabrina’s behaviour throughout the war, to understand her experiences. She blows with the wind, supporting whoever she thinks will be of advantage to her, her loyalty is an enigma. Some people fight to survive, others stay quiet and collaborate.
The Girl Who Escaped portrays the reality of wartime Italy, focussing on one town and the four friends. At times its not an easy read, the plight of ordinary people persecuted for no other reason than their religion is not new but Petch maintains the suspense to the end so we don’t know who betrays who.

Here are my reviews of other novels also by Angela Petch:-
THE LOST GARDEN
THE POSTCARD FROM ITALY
THE SICILIAN SECRET
THE TUSCAN SECRET

If you like this, try:-
‘Day’ by AL Kennedy
‘The Garden of Angels’ by David Hewson
‘The Bird in the Bamboo Cage’ by Hazel Gaynor

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE GIRL WHO ESCAPED by Angela Petch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-74A via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Ray Bradbury

#BookReview ‘The Postcard from Italy’ by Angela Petch #WW2

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I’ve never been to Puglia in Italy, the south-eastern coast down to the heel, except in the pages of The Postcard from Italy by Angela Petch. Vividly she brings to life the coastline, the stone-built trulli houses, the caves. It is a magical setting. Stretching backwards from today to the closing months of the Second World War, this is an enthralling family story of love and separation.  Recognising love when it’s there, but also understanding when it’s absent. Angela PetchIn 1945, Puglia, a young man awakes, injured, disorientated. He doesn’t know who he is or how he came to be in a trullo, a rural stone house, cared for by strangers. The teenage boy Anto explains how his grandfather Domenico saw him fall from a warplane. Called ‘Roberto’ by his rescuers, his memory stubbornly refuses to return. He can speak English and Italian but knows nothing about fishing or farming. As he helps them in their daily routines, gathering food, catching fish, tending vegetables, repairing the trullo, his nights are full of confusing dreams.
In present day Hastings, England, Susannah mourns the recent death of her father Frank and the descent of her grandmother, Elsie, into the clouds of dementia. Clearing Elsie’s house, Susannah finds a yellowing postcard of a beautiful farmhouse in Puglia and a message of love. Realising this is the same farmhouse in a painting by her father but unaware of family links with Italy, she can’t reconcile this message of love with her brittle, acidic grandmother who always preferred Susannah’s blonde-haired younger sister Sybil. So, while a friend looks after her antique bric-a-brac shop at home, Susannah takes a holiday in Puglia. Determined to find the house in her father’s painting, she learns to heal herself, to speak a little Italian and in so doing falls for two handsome men.
Petch uses conventional wartime story themes – amnesia, separation of loved ones, the vulnerability of loneliness and grief, and the fear of those who exploit war for gain – and adds the twists and turns of flirting and love. Petch has written four novels set in Tuscany, so Puglia is a new setting for her but her knowledge of Italy shines on every page. Susannah’s holiday is extended as she turns detective but the clues, when she finds them, bring more questions rather than answers.
Susannah is the spine of the story but my favourite character was Anto, so complex, so brave, so intriguing. This is a wonderful book to sink into, a perfect holiday or weekend read.

Here are my reviews of other novels also by Angela Petch:-
THE GIRL WHO ESCAPED
THE LOST GARDEN
THE SICILIAN SECRET
THE TUSCAN SECRET

If you like this, try:-
‘Another You’ by Jane Cable
‘The War Child’ by Renita d’Silva
‘The Tuscan Contessa’ by Dinah Jefferies

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE POSTCARD FROM ITALY by Angela Petch https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5Qk via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Tuscan Secret’ by Angela Petch #WW2 #romance

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The Tuscan Secret by Angela Petch is one of those books that is difficult to define. Is it a romance; partly. Is it historical; yes if World War Two counts as historical. Is it a page turner; for me, not quite. The heart of this novel lies in its Italian setting. The author lives part of the year in Tuscany and it really shows. From the descriptions of the countryside to the food and customs, The Tuscan Secret is totally believable. The deserted village of Montebotelino is real. Angela PetchTwo women – Ines, her daughter Anna – share tangled family histories. Ines has recently died and leaves to Anna some money and a box of diaries. Written in Italian, Anna cannot decipher the diaries so decides to leave behind her own unsatisfactory love life and use her mother’s money to travel to Rofelle in Tuscany. Why did Ines leave idyllic Roffele, what secrets did she write in the diaries, and how did she come to marry an Englishman.
This is a dual timeline story which switches back and forth between mother and daughter. Anna arrives in Rofelle where she moves into an agriturismo and gets to know its owner Teresa and her brother Francesco. Anna’s Italian soon proves inadequate so Francesco introduces her to the locals and translates the diary in sections. Ines’ story is presented to the reader as her diary though it reads as narrative complete with dialogue. Ines is a teenager, helping her mother, longing to be with her brother Davide who is with their schoolfriend Capriolo, fighting in the mountains. Then one day, they help an injured English soldier who is trying to escape enemy territory.
I found myself looking forward to Ines’ sections and almost wished the story was completely hers. Rofelle is located in the Apennine mountains, home to resistance fighters and the route for allied soldiers escaping the Germans. The experience of the local people – the urge to fight, the need to survive, the duty to help fleeing soldiers, the threat of atrocities by the occupying German army – sets up impossible choices. I love any world war two story and especially those about an area with which I’m unfamiliar.
I struggled with the character of Jim who is thinly sketched and affected by huge events off the page. The author keeps these a secret from the reader as Jim kept them hidden from Ines, but it does make him an unsympathetic character. This feels like a potential heavyweight war novel hidden beneath a layer of romance which, as nice as it is, feels light and predictable in comparison.

Here are my reviews of other novels also by Angela Petch:-
THE GIRL WHO ESCAPED
THE LOST GARDEN
THE POSTCARD FROM ITALY
THE SICILIAN SECRET

If you like this, try:-
‘The Invitation’ by Lucy Foley
‘Those Who Are Loved’ by Victoria Hislop
‘The Lost Letters of William Woolf’ by Helen Cullen

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE TUSCAN SECRET by Angela Petch https://wp.me/p5gEM4-44D via @SandraDanby