I received this book as a review copy, I admit I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy the story. I needn’t have been. The books 2 main protagonists Floriana and Marina are both well drawn and the reader can identify with them. The two settings, Italy and Devon, are vivid although I preferred Floriana’s Italy as this seemed more evocative.
If there was one criticism to make it would be that perhaps some of the minor characters in particular those in the estate office are a little stereotypical. Having said that the plot on the whole is kept quite tight. The two settings do mirror one another to some extent but not so that the reader is fed up. The sub-plots are intriguing and all the characters have their own ideals and motivations which then impact on the lives of others.
The anguish of Marina can become a little wearing as can the vileness of Clementine but it needs to be accepted that both these characters are behaving in the ways they behave because they are well developed characters not just plot devices. The use of Rafa, the artist in residence as a cure-all for the hotels problem is a clever way of uniting the problems of the various characters. The sub-plot of Baffles will keep you guessing.
All in all a book I would recommend, it has a little bit of everything, love, forbidden love, mystery and intrigue.
