Restoration

by Olaf Olafsson

Raised within a cosseted circle of British ex-pats in Florence, Alice shocked her family and friends when she married Claudio. Despite the protests of both families, they found a crumbling villa on a windy Tuscan hilltop, called San Martino, and they poured themselves into the house and the land–and what they built together bound them together. They had a son. They finished the house. They were happy.

But away from her family and the ease of life to which she was accustomed, Alice begins to slip into a vast and encompassing loneliness. She stumbles into an ill-advised affair with a childhood sweetheart that increasingly takes her away from San Martino and into the social swirl of wartime Rome. She is with her lover when her young son dies from meningitis…and her unbearable sorrow is compounded by terrible guilt. Her indiscretion is noticed by a careful pair of eyes–those of Robert Marshall, the master restorer and dealer of renaissance art. In exchange for his silence, he demands Alice hide a priceless Caravaggio at San Martino, a national treasure that he has sold to the Germans. Neither knows, however, that the Caravaggio is, in fact, a fake, painted by Marshall’s assistant as revenge for Marshall’s scorning her as a lover and returning to his pregnant wife. Kristin had merely hoped to privately humiliate Marshall. But his sale of the forgery has placed him in far greater danger than she anticipated. Compelled to make things right, she travels to San Martino in an attempt to destroy the painting. Meanwhile, inconsolable at the death of his son and at his wife’s betrayal, Claudio retreats first into silence, and then into an actual absence. He has left, without saying good-bye, without offering the grieving Alice a chance to redeem herself for her ghastly sin. As WWII moves towards its inexorable conclusion, as the front lines sweeps closer and closer to San Martino, Alice and Kristin not only have to confront the onslaught of soldiers and the destruction of everything they hold dear, but also the consequences of their past mistakes.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Italy, Art, Historical, World War II, War

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Olaf Olafsson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1962. He studied physics as a Wien Scholar at Brandeis University. He is the author of three previous novels, The Journey Home, Absolution and Walking Into the Night, and a story collection, Valentines. His books have been published to critical acclaim in more than twenty languages. He is the recipient of the O. Henry Award and the Icelandic Literary Award, was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor Prize, and has twice been nominated for the IMPAC Award. He is the Executive Vice President of Time Warner and he lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
http://www.facebook.com/olafsson.author

Reviews

[Violet wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

I imagine researching and organising your material would be one of the most exciting challenges of writing a historical novel. Obviously this wasn’t the case for Olaf Olafsson. He decided to save time and energy by simply shoplifting wholesale the fabulous memoirs of Iris Origo. He steals her house and her wartime experiences to give his novel its structure and heart and then, to add insult to injury, invents an adultery on her part to commercially liven things up. I suppose if you have no knowledge of War in Val d'Orcia: An Italian War Diary, 1943-1944 you might find merit and enjoyment in this aspect of the novel. But it’s what Olafsson adds to his pilfering that made this a clumsy and rather pointless novel for me. Welded onto Origo’s memoirs with little artistry is a story about a forged painting. An art student with little training is suddenly and wholly implausibly restoring old master paintings. And not only can she restore old master paintings she can also forge a Caravaggio – a Caravaggio that has no existence but is accepted without a shred of suspicion by everyone in the art world as authentic. This painting is supposed to supply the mystery and heartbeat to the novel but I’m afraid I never once believed in it. Also the aesthetic correlation between the painting and the Origo narrative was forced and uneasy, like a broken vase glued back together by a guilty child. Maybe he thought he was being clever by forging someone’s memoirs in a novel about a forged painting? I was simply left wondering why, if a novelist can’t invent his own world, is he writing novels at all? If I were related to iris origo I’d probably think about suing.
But do read the original - War in Val d'Orcia: An Italian War Diary, 1943-1944

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first and last chapters of “Restoration” are absolute gems with Olafsson’s painterly descriptions of Italian countryside and his portrayals of human anguish. The first chapter lures you into the story, the last chapter satisfies. This is not to say the story lags in between. It doesn’t but there is a dreamlike cadence to how things unfold, for instance one of the main characters isn’t named until about a third of the way through the book. Other characters are only glimpsed through memories. Olafsson is wonderful at conveying a sense of Italy’s beauty and its social life right before and during World War II.

Kristin is the other main character. She is a young Icelandic woman with an art background who works in Rome with an expatriate Brit restoring old master paintings. Interpersonal secrets abound as everyone dreads or complicatedly hopes for the Germans and the Allies to get closer. Throughout the story everything and everyone is at least slightly broken. Olafsson does a great job of showing the impact of war and especially the price of this particular war. People go on having their personal battles but with another layer added of trying to survive and keep their loved ones safe. The only disappointment I had with “Restoration” (and I understand this is not fair) is that I was hoping for a more in depth discussions of art techniques and history.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this is a great summer read. Not only is it beautiful to hold (Ecco imprint, thick deckled pages, only 336 pages in a 5-5/15 x 8 inch format), but the words just made me want to slow down and savor. The characters in this book were making their dreams come alive: a wealthy woman uses her ample funds to get her hands dirty restoring an old villa on a wind-swept mountain in Tuscany, and a penniless, parentless artist finds her calling restoring the paintings of old masters in Rome.

Cochineal, indigo, white lead, cinnabar, umber, ocher, kermes and weld: the words bring their own smell, their own color. Add Rome, Tuscany, love, passion, wealth and youthful beauty in the pre-war years and the combination is irresistible. That the dreams of both women are blasted apart by World War II and their relationships with men adds depth to the drama, and it continues very near to present day, when the artist looks back and has us question again the nature of great art. Provenance in terms of art, it turns out, is almost all its value.

According to David Leavitt, writing a review for the New York Times earlier this year, the provenance of Olafsson’s story is deeply rooted in the real-life adventures of Iris Origo, about which she wrote in a nonfiction memoir called War in Val d’Orcia. Leavitt sounds a little incensed in his review that Olafsson did not emphasize this “borrowing” and writes

In 1993, I was sued by the poet Stephen Spender after I wrote a novel, “While England Sleeps,” based on an episode from his memoir “World Within World.” If I learned anything from that unhappy experience, it was that it’s essential for writers to acknowledge their sources fully and without hedging.

That’s fine with me. For writers, painters, innovators, anybody who borrows from another: Acknowledge the source and keep the provenance clear, but…art historians and wordsmiths don’t kill me…I believe great art can be created borrowing techniques, styles, and yes, the stories, of others and it doesn’t diminish the work in any way. And that is really the central question of the book—you’ll see when you read it.

So yes, this is a fine book when you don’t want a massive tome and just want beautiful words arranged artfully on the page.

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Restoration is set in the waning days of the Second World War, as the Germans retreated through Italy and is largely set on a fattoria where Alice, estranged from her husband after the tragic death of her son, works to keep everything going and the tenants, workers and the children evacuated from cities further south fed and safe. There are partisans in the woods, who periodically take shelter with the more outlying tenant farms and she's been coerced into hiding a painting for the Germans. Kristin arrives at the fattoria after being injured in an explosion on the train she was in and remains even after her wounds are healing. She's left behind an unhappy love affair and a secret that could destroy the man she once loved.

Restoration is a novel with an old-fashioned feel to it. There isn't a modern story bracketing the one set in the 1940s and it's told in a clear straight-forward manner. This was an enjoyable and engrossing read and while I don't think it will stay with me very long, I'd be happy enough to read something else by Olafsson.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about love, betrayal, loss and forgiveness. The main character, Alice, is a British ex-pat who grew up in Florence, and married Claudio, a titled Italian, albeit a poor one. Together they rescue a farm in Tuscany and raise their young son there. As World War II engulfs Italy, Alice begins a foolish affair and was busy seeing to her own needs when her young son falls ill and dies. Despairing, she believes she is being punished for her misdeeds, but still longs to reconcile with her husband, who disappears before she can do so.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher. I am free to say exactly what I think, and I am not required to write a good review. That said, this book is so good, I can’t say enough positive things about it! For starters, Olafsson chooses subjects that I really enjoy. Tuscany, Europe during World War II, and Nazi art theft. What could be more intriguing? Then, he presents two amazing stories that intertwine and connect so adeptly. I loved how the author presents the main character as a narrator, as if she is speaking to her missing husband. The author uses wonderful imagery to place the reader in Tuscany and yet, as you’re relishing the place you have found yourself in, you are left disturbed and unsettled as the war encroaches upon you.

The only thing I would change about this book is the title. While Restoration refers to a painting, the word itself has multiple meanings, and so might deter someone from picking up this book. Also, when I tried to search for the book on Goodreads, there were so many other books that came up with this name, that it took quite a while to find it. I would be too bad if this book were overlooked because of the title. It’s definitely one worth reading!

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was pretty disappointed with this novel. It sounded interesting - Alice, an Englishwoman, marries the son of an Italian landowner, and begins restoring a Tuscan villa. During World War II, Alice grows restless and has a relationship that opens her up to blackmail from an unscrupulous art dealer named Robert Marshall. He forces her to hide a priceless painting by Caravaggio, in her villa. Meanwhile, Alice opens her home to refugees, orphans, and wounded allied soldiers. To complicate matters further, Marshall's lover Kristin, an artist with the gift to restore any painting, also shows up, seriously wounded after the train she was traveling on was bombed.

Like I said, it sounded interesting, but it wasn't. I got bored. I hate forcing myself to finish a book, but that is what I did here. The characters never came alive to me. The point of view changes from chapter to chapter, which would not be so bad, but Olafsson doesn't always indicate whose point of view it is. It can take several pages to figure out whether it's Alice or Kristin. I also hate it when writers use present tense. I find it extremely annoying. However, only part of the book is in present tense. Suddenly, on page 115, everything is in past tense, only to switch to present tense again later on. By that time, I really didn't care any longer.

Looking at the reviewer's blurb on the back cover, I wonder if we read the same book. I'm glad this was a bargain book.

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, all you want from a book is to be taken to another place. The setting for this novel is an Italian villa that's been restored - unfortunately, it soon finds itself on the front lines of WWII as the Germans retreat into the steep valley surrounding it, with the Allies right on their heels. Complicating the picture, so to speak, is a meticulously "restored" masterpiece by Caravaggio that becomes a bargaining chip between the two main characters: an Icelandic girl and the English woman who has taken her in along with many refugees, including wounded partisans and orphaned children.. Both women are at the mercy of an American art dealer in Rome, who's not above selling priceless artworks to the Nazis. The story revolves around themes of love and betrayal. But it's the way the beautiful, fertile, Italian landscape enfolds the characters and holds the reader spellbound that makes this novel so memorable. The author's distancing technique works well in that sense, but there's a cold detachment to the narrative (even in the private-journal sections) that sometimes makes it hard to feel as sympathetic towards the main characters as you'd expect. Altogether, though, it's a very riveting story.

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me by surprise. I really did not expect something so deep and moving, something so well written. I’d actually been reluctant to pick it up, because I thought it would be one of those books focused solely on World War II, but I’m so glad I did end up giving it a chance.
There are two interconnecting plot lines: Kristin’s and Alice’s. The book goes back and forth in time (think The English Patient, not Time Traveler’s Wife) in such a masterful way that the reader is never confused. On the contrary, it’s hard to put the book down once you get past the first chapter. The war is always second stage to the relationships in the book, whether husband between a husband and wife or between two lovers. This is a collection of relationships.
The writing is superb, stark and powerful. Once in a while the dialogue felt a bit stilted, but not enough to frustrate the reader. The way it ends, which I will not reveal, of course, is perfect, tucking in all the loose ends and leaving the reader with a sense of peace.
This is a book I highly recommend to lovers of literary fiction. Beautiful book.

[Susan (aka Just My Op) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mysterious painting, war-torn Italy, orphans, ex-pats, traitors, death of a beloved, hints of romance – this novel has all the earmarkings of a terrific story. And I did enjoy reading it. Having said that, it fell a little flat for me. If it was trying to be a mystery, there was not enough mystery. For a war story, there was not enough about the war. Ditto for the romance. As literary fiction, it just didn't shine as it could have. For my tastes, the book was going in too many directions at once, and not entirely successful at any one of them. Quite a bit was told as a woman writing in her diary, and while that can work very well for some authors, there was too much telling in this book. All of that together makes for a 3-star rating from me. While I did enjoy reading it, there was nothing to make it memorable. It has received some excellent reviews, though, so don't let me deter you from reading it if it appeals.

Thank you to ECCO for providing an advance copy for my review.

[Anita Lynch-Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise of art restoration, forgery and concealing works of art from the nazis during WW2 in Italy. Liked the story but didn't appreciate the style.

This is the second book I've read from this author. There are two narrators and he doesn't indicate new chapters by narrator or who's speaking so you have to figure it out. He also jumps back and forth in time.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a title like RESTORATION, it’s no surprise that at the center of the story, there is a restoration…in this case, a forgery of an esteemed Caravaggio painting by a young talented artist named Kristin who is spurned in love by her master.

That master restorer, Marshall, a man of dubious ethics, says: “No canvas lasts more than two centuries. If left alone, they all turn into dust. Those who think that art restoration is simply dusting and cleaning exhibit incredible naivete. Interpreters, Kristin. That’s what we are.”

So the stage is set: restoration is interpretation. Which brings me to the second and presumably more important thread of the story: a tale of Alice, a wealthy British ex-pat who moves with her new Italian husband to a villa in Tuscany that also needs massive restoration. Alice, according to the epilogue, is based on Iris Origo, a real-life Marchesa of Val d’Orcia, who kept diaries during the war years (the book is set in the early 1940s.)

The lives of these two remarkable women intersect in an unexpected way, keeping them in close contact during the encroaching fighting of Germans and Allied troops. Each has taken on a massive project -- the painting and the villa – and interpreted it in ways that suit her unique needs. And Olaf Olaffson himself surely must be aware that he, too, is the interpreter of the real-life diaries, bringing Marchesa Origo’s fictional conterpart to life.

All this begs the question: does it work? For the most part, it does. This is a plot-driven story, albeit one that requires close attention at the beginning because of constant jumps back and forth in time and hints of future action. Mr. Olaffson, like a fine painter, creates beautiful brushstrokes that bring Tuscany of the war years to life and recreate the sounds, sights, and scents.

From this reader’s perspective, the Kristin thread was far more compelling than the Alice thread; I suspect it wasn’t meant to be that way. Kristin’s story is written in the third-person and offers up suspense and raw emotions. Alice’s story, written in the more immediate first-person, is more detached. I never fully “felt” the love conflicts that she experienced and the push-pull of her marriage with Claudio seemed bland. Still, I kept turning pages, rapt in the story, and I wouldn’t have considered for a moment putting down the book before finding out how it ended.

[Virginia Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a while since I have read a book where the overall story was the star, and the characters were necessary components to reach the final page. I enjoyed "Restoration", by Olaf Olafsson, very much. The human failings and strengths of each character add shaded complexities to the horrific World War II story line. The contrast of the settings of glorious Tuscany and the destruction from bombing, killing and marauding invaders is piercing. There is no hero or heroine in this story, but a collection of people and lives that you hope will somehow be set to rights. There are secrets, betrayals, devastating loss, and mysteries which propel the characters toward resolutions and new beginnings. Alice is the wealthy daughter of a class-conscious British family. She shocks everyone by marrying Claudio, an entitled minor-landowner, and moving with him to Tuscany. They begin their life together in a once-beautiful villa in need of much repair. As they work side by side to build a dream life, they try to ignore their underlying differences. A much-loved son, Giovanni, is born, and they find a measure of contentment. However, as the villa and its lands begin to flourish, more and more demands are made upon both Claudio and Alice. He is very much a man of the land and his dependents, and she begins to long for tastes of the life she left behind. She recklessly reaches out for greater fulfillment, and yet she is not without guilt and self-recrimination. The illness and eventual death of young Giovanni pushes Claudio and Alice further apart. Her intended reparation to their marriage is halted by Claudio's strange disappearance. Alice is left to manage the villa and its lands with the help of a devoted family friend, Pritchett. As the war progresses, more and more seekers of sanctuary descend upon Alice and her home. One of them, a young woman named Kristin, comes bearing a serious wound and deep secrets which could gravely affect many in their wake. The effects of our actions and missteps are very much evident here, and those with survivor guilt must find a way to move forward. Chose to live, and live the life you are given. This is a book which will make you want to read it all in one setting. You will want to know how the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place. A very good read.

Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine

[Holly Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do we live with the consequences of our actions?

Alice, a wealthy English girl, marries Claudio Orsini, ten years her senior, much to the horror of her parents. With naïve optimism, Alice and Claudio purchase a 3500-acre tumbledown Tuscan villa. Having entered a life she knows nothing about, Alice copes by teaching illiterate children.

Copenhagen Royal Academy of Art graduate, Kristin, travels to Italy to sketch the great sculptures. Marshall, a restorer of paintings, takes her under his wing. Although talented, she is trusting to a fault.

Kristin and Alice’s lives intersect against the backdrop of war-torn Italy in 1944 and the mystique of the Tuscany region. For these women sexual dalliances have dire consequences. Paintings are not the only thing being restored in this novel. Fallible human beings seek redemption.

The author spins out his story by examining the remorseful self-examinations of both female characters. The frequently changing points of view reflect the unsettled lives of the characters. The technique is interesting and original, but it slows the pace of the plot. Readers willing to use their imagination and draw their own conclusions will reap rewards by the end of the novel. Olafsson is a writer who makes his readers think rather than feeding his tale to them on a silver platter. The writer of the book jacket synopsis took the opposite approach—telling us more than we’d like to know upfront.

Lovers of literary fiction who appreciate the craft of writing will enjoy this book. Those of us who have committed an offense and seek absolution will revel in Olafsson’s tenderness toward his female characters. The book is well titled and well crafted.

The Amazon Vine program graciously provided the review copy.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like Far From Here, this is told in a combination of first and third person; the first person episodes are either a diary entry or conversation between Alice and her husband Claudio, who disappeared shortly after their son died. Set in Tuscany during the waning days of World War II, the title has several meanings - the restoration of the villa and farms at San Martino, the restoration work Kristin does on paintings, the restoration of peace, and possibly the restoration of Alice's life to something closer to normal.

The pacing is rather slow, with the tension coming from the war and from Alice's relationship with her husband, their friend Pritchett and her lover. Kristin's life in Iceland and Italy also plays into this as her employer/lover, Marshall, is selling art to the Germans, including a "Caravaggio" she "repaired". Overall there's little surprise here, and I didn't feel as though this was really an Italian novel but rather set there by happenstance. The parts about painting restoration and techniques were interesting, and had there been more of that or more of Alice's relationship with her husband and dead son, I would have found the book more compelling.

Copy provided by publisher.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book’s World War II setting (an Italian farm where orphans and partisans are cared for) would have been enough for me, especially since this author wonderfully describes the Tuscan countryside. This is a beautifully written book, but I didn’t need subplots about Nazis hiding stolen art or multiple unfaithful marriages. I also didn’t need two interlocking stories written in first and third person (sometimes about the same person) that seemed to muddy the plot with too many coincidences.

Historical fiction often involves imagining scenes that may not have really happened, and giving historical people characteristics they may not have had. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres to read and write. That said, I was not impressed to discover that Olafsson basically copied real life author Iris Origo’s already-published accounts of the Tuscan farm’s role in World War II.He is such a talented writer, I would prefer to read characters and plot that come all from his imagination.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where have I been that I haven't found this author before now? This book really wowed me. Alice marries Claudio, not really what everyone expected from her. However, was she in love? Not sure!

Alice has an affair. Someone else knows, and so they blackmail her to keep this piece of artwork, thinking it is a valuable gem. BUT the joke is on him, because his lover was trying to embarrass him and it really isn't the real deal.

But Alice and Kristin's lives will collide and you will love what happens! Set in WWII, but that is a backdrop really for the story set in. All the characters are so well developed you won't be able to get them out of your mind long after the last page has been read.

One of the sentences that stayed with me was "Then you left the room and I sat on with our son in my arms in the merciless glare of the overhead light." -- That really has such a distinct picture in your head doesn't it? Beautiful writing!!!

[Kevin McAllister · Rating 3 out of 5]

Restoration is a novel of two women both being haunted by mistakes from their pasts, brought together by circumstances to a villa in Tuscany, which eventually turns into the frontline in a battle between the retreating Germans and The Allied forces during World War Two. There's a passage very close to the end that sums up the novel very well for me. "But our problems were trivial in the scheme of things. We can see that now that the world lies in ruins." Both these women were in the middle of a war zone and yet spent most of their time so focused on the ghost of their pasts that I eventually began to find these musings quite tedious. And I find my self wondering why the author included this line about the characters trivial problems, when that was pretty much the entire theme of the novel.

[Jaylia3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A picturesquely described Italian countryside is the setting for this WWII novel of love and betrayal, as the Allied armies are gaining ground, and the farmhouse where most of the action takes place is gradually but inexorably becoming the front line of battle. There are two main characters, both women, Kristin an artist and restorer of damaged but valuable paintings, who is Icelandic like the author, and Alice, an English expatriate who married an Italian man against her family’s wishes and then became restless and involved in an affair, and who is loosely based on real life Iris Origo. The poignant intertwining of their lives is easy to keep track of because Kristin’s story is told in the third person while Alice tells her story in the first person, addressed to her missing husband.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is really interesting that this book was written by Olaf Olafsson. Here is an Icelandic man writing (very convincingly) in the voices of two women, one English, one Icelandic, in Italy, a setting far outside of his own experience. I was surprised to read the book jacket after finishing it - I had assumed it had to be a woman. I was also surprised to discover that he is the Vice President of Time Warner. How does he have the time to write books? In his spare time!? Maybe it's that Icelandic efficiency coming out. I loved the story (1940s Italy torn between the Allied and German fronts) and I loved the perspective of the two women he wrote from, as their two paths were brought together by a painting. The ending of the book was exactly as it should have been.

[Flo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Restoration is the 3rd novel I have read by Olaf Olafsson and each is well written in a style that is so beautiful, so hypnotizing, I could not let go. Alice, a wealthy young Englishwoman marries Claudio, a titled Italian and they buy a delapidated farm in Tuscany which Claudio calls paradise and which they restore to a working farm.
In Florence, Kristin, an art student from Iceland, begins to work for a married, charismatic art dealer, restoring paintings and falls in love with him. The 2nd World War brings these people together; they love and betray each other while coping with the horrors and tragedies of war as the Germans are driven out of Italy by Allied forces. Wonderful. Read this book.

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olafsson is one hell of a writer. The prose is fantastic. The reality within the fiction is phenomenal.

What a fantastic story about power - outright abuse, and the more hidden upper-hands in retaliation. The way relationships break down if they aren't cared for (ahh, the eternal lesson...); they way they break down faster if assumptions are made and used as reasoning away guilt.

Also, I had the same damn epiphany as one of the main characters did: a lot of hands touch many works of art to keep them in good shape over the centuries. (What does that even mean in terms of authenticity?!)

[Jóhanna Ýr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Really loved it!
This book puzzles me. It's exciting the whole time. It's telling the past of these two women, story of their love live and how they two end up together in San Martino. As much as this sounds as a boring love story it's far from being one. Ólafur has amazing talent when it comes to writing.

I even blogged about it
http://2culture.com/index.php/books/7...

[Shazza Hoppsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My third Olafsson novel and again I learn about a historical incident I wasn’t aware of - the destruction of Tuscany in the Second World War. How can I have been to these areas and had no idea?

Again dual stories but this time the protagonists are women. One based on Iris Origo. (Have bought her war diary War in Val D’orica). I enjoyed the two female protagonist voices both cruelled by desire and left to struggle with their choices.

Another really enjoyable read.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book- literary novel with good character development and engrossing plot.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 5th book I've read by this author, and I always enjoy the poetic way he writes. This one was a little different, being partially inspired by real people and events. The tone and pace of this one actually kept reminding me of The English Patient.
There's a lot going on here, with two main female characters and how their different relationships drive the story. There is blackmail involved, and betrayal, along with putting some people in danger to help others, all set in the art world and war time in beautiful Italy. Most of the "action" is in the last part of the book, and a lot of the story is told in flashbacks, often to explain things brought up earlier. This took a little getting used to for me, because chapters would begin with someone talking, but you weren't always sure for a bit who it was coming from.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual in an Olafsson, there is a small but meaningful connection to Iceland, although the book takes place entirely in Italy, before and during the 2nd World War. Closely taken from the life of and writing of Iris Origo the story takes place on a farm/estate in Italy and indeed the story of hiding partisans and those escaping from the War closely follows Origo's life. Is this an inherent criticism? I don't think so. Of interest to me is the wide range of Olafsson's writing, and my enjoyment in reading his work.

[Annie LaMuraglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigh.

Subject matter / plot - so depressing. And predictable. 0 feel good moments. I feel empty.

Writing style - took a second to get used to but was a nice change of pace. Short chapters, time period jumps around a lot, as does the character POV and first/third person POV. Kept my brain on its toes.

Literary devices - 20/10. Beautiful symbolism and deep metaphors, if you’re into that.

It was a good book. But I’d only recommend it to a select population.

[Bolli Thor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ólafur Jóhann er ótrúlega naskur á að halda manni við efnið við lesturinn. Jafnvel þótt söguþráðurinn sé stundum alveg á mörkum þess að vera langdreginn. Yfirleitt sleppur þetta fyrir horn þótt maður sé alveg við það að gefast upp. Þessi bók reynir á allan skalann hjá manni. Hins vegar er söguþráðurinn áhugaverður, og bakgrunnurinnn stríðsátök í seinni heimsstyrjöldinni sem maður þekkir. Þegar upp er staðið verð ég að gefa bókinni fjórar stjörnur.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

From all the positive reviews on the cover I expected much more from this novel. However I never felt the war passages seemed realistic and none of the characters intrigued me. It seemed as though it was written a bit hastily, perhaps as a screenplay for a movie. I found plot gaps and unanswered questions that seemed careless.. It might make a nice movie but novel is unsatisfying.

[Asgrimur Hartmannsson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Þetta fékkst gefið út.

Samtöl eru fljótandi í geimnum, eignuð engum fyrr en á 3. blaðsíðu, það eru 2 persónur á sitthvoru tímabilinu og maður veit ekki hvor er hvað oftast.

Þetta eru allt vandamál sem vitrast manni í fysta kafla, og halda svo bara áfram, systemískt alla leið í gegn.

Gerið ykkur greiða og lesið eitthvað annað.