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twistinthetale's review against another edition
3.0
This book is really like reading four different book, each different in tone and style. The central character is Esmond who relocates to Florence just prior to the outbreak of World War II, working on the side of the fascist cause. As war progresses allegiances change and Esmond fights with the resistance in order to save himself, his loved one's and Florence.
courtneyjx's review against another edition
4.0
This book really ended up surprising me.
It started quite slow, the first part or so I was thinking it would be a 2 star read and it ended up being a 3.5, and even so I rounded up to a 4.
The story took a little while for me to get into - I think it may have been because of the third person narration as once it went to first I was completely hooked. The story had so much depth to it and was ultimately quite immersive
It started quite slow, the first part or so I was thinking it would be a 2 star read and it ended up being a 3.5, and even so I rounded up to a 4.
The story took a little while for me to get into - I think it may have been because of the third person narration as once it went to first I was completely hooked. The story had so much depth to it and was ultimately quite immersive
lnatal's review
3.0
From BBC Radio 4 - Book at Bedtime:
"[He] unfolds a portrait of himself in gouache [...] It is a good likeness, he thinks, if a little tragic, and big-eared. She has drawn a man - given him something to grow into."
Esmond Lowndes's father is a leading light in the British Union Of Fascists. In 1937, Esmond is sent down from Cambridge in disgrace and dispatched instead to Florence to set up Radio Firenze - an English-language radio station aiming to form closer ties between Fascists in Italy and England.
Esmond finds love and loss, and his journey of self-discovery becomes increasingly and - as Italy moves into war - more tightly intertwined with the fortunes of Florence, the city he has made his home.
And at every turn, he comes up against the local Blackshirt leader, the brutal Mario Carita.
"[He] unfolds a portrait of himself in gouache [...] It is a good likeness, he thinks, if a little tragic, and big-eared. She has drawn a man - given him something to grow into."
Esmond Lowndes's father is a leading light in the British Union Of Fascists. In 1937, Esmond is sent down from Cambridge in disgrace and dispatched instead to Florence to set up Radio Firenze - an English-language radio station aiming to form closer ties between Fascists in Italy and England.
Esmond finds love and loss, and his journey of self-discovery becomes increasingly and - as Italy moves into war - more tightly intertwined with the fortunes of Florence, the city he has made his home.
And at every turn, he comes up against the local Blackshirt leader, the brutal Mario Carita.
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