Stevie‘s review of The Garden of Letters by Alyson Richman
Historical Literary Fiction published by Berkley 02 Sep 14
I’m a huge fan of novels that centre on women’s roles in the first and second world wars, particularly those with a high level of action and suspense. Although I’ve previously read books set in wartime Italy, I think this is the first I’ve picked up that takes the Italian resistance as its focus, rather than looking at the work of the allies in liberating Italy. So how does this story hold up against others I’ve read?
At the beginning of the story’s timeline – though that’s not the beginning of the novel, since the story is told in a distinctly non-linear fashion – Elodie is a normal young woman, or at least as normal as is possible to be when one is a gifted musician, and the daughter of a renowned music teacher. Her life has been relatively untouched by Mussolini’s regime and by the war in Europe, although she and her parents do what they can to help their Jewish neighbours, who are close to starvation after being prevented from working. Elodie is aware that her best friend is involved in the underground antifascist movement but is reluctant to become involved herself, until her father is taken away and badly beaten by fascists for playing his music loudly to drown out their noise.
Having experienced the brutal reality of the political climate, Elodie volunteers to help the resistance as a messenger and is soon able to put her musical talent to use in passing on secret messages to other musicians in the movement. She becomes close to one of her colleagues and takes part in several missions with him. When one of those missions goes tragically wrong, she is forced to flee her hometown, ending up far away and taken in by the village doctor, Angelo, himself a young widower. And that’s actually the point at which we first meet them.
Through the course of the novel, Angelo and Elodie’s stories are revealed to the reader, to some of those around them, and to each other. The garden of letters of the title is both a metaphor for love that endures despite separation and an actual part of Antonio’s house; Elodie’s discovery of the shut-off room in which Antonio’s love and sorrow reside is a major driving force in the story.
I don’t always enjoy non-linear stories, but this one works for me. Less to my taste, although not problematic enough to knock me out of the story or prevent me seeking out other books by the author, is both the overly coy nature in which the high points of Elodie’s first love affair are described and the unnecessarily romantic nature of the overall story’s conclusion. So not quite an A, but a recommended read nonetheless.
Grade: B
Summary:
NEW FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE LOST WIFE
Written in dazzling prose and set against the rich backdrop of World War II Italy, Garden of Letters captures the hope, suspense, and romance of an uncertain era, in an epic intertwining story of first love, great tragedy, and spectacular bravery.
Portofino, Italy, 1943. A young woman steps off a boat in a scenic coastal village. Although she knows how to disappear in a crowd, Elodie is too terrified to slip by the German officers while carrying her poorly forged identity papers. She is frozen until a man she’s never met before claims to know her. In desperate need of shelter, Elodie follows him back to his home on the cliffs of Portofino.
Only months before, Elodie Bertolotti was a cello prodigy in Verona, unconcerned with world events. But when Mussolini’s Fascist regime strikes her family, Elodie is drawn into the burgeoning resistance movement by Luca, a young and impassioned bookseller. As the occupation looms, she discovers that her unique musical talents, and her courage, have the power to save lives.
In Portofino, young doctor Angelo Rosselli gives the frightened and exhausted girl sanctuary. He is a man with painful secrets of his own, haunted by guilt and remorse. But Elodie’s arrival has the power to awaken a sense of hope and joy that Angelo thought was lost to him forever.
No excerpt available.
