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Inspector Pallioti #2
Villa Triste
Twee zussen nemen tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog een moedige beslissing die veertig jaar later grote consequenties heeft…
Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog worden de zusjes Caterina en Isabella Cammaccio gedwongen de moeilijkste beslissingen van hun leven te nemen waarvan de consequenties nog jarenlang zullen doorwerken. Veertig jaar later moet Alessandro Pallioti een merkwaardige moordzaak op een oude man oplossen. De vermoorde man blijkt een held voor de verzetsleden van de Tweede Wereldoorlog te zijn geweest. Hij is doodgeschoten en er is zout in zijn mond gepropt. Hoe meer Pallioti zich in de zaak verdiept, des te meer komt de geest van de oorlog tot leven. Als hij het dagboek van Caterina tussen het bewijsmateriaal vindt, wordt een ontstellende geschiedenis van het verzet en het leven van twee zussen opgerakeld.
Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog worden de zusjes Caterina en Isabella Cammaccio gedwongen de moeilijkste beslissingen van hun leven te nemen waarvan de consequenties nog jarenlang zullen doorwerken. Veertig jaar later moet Alessandro Pallioti een merkwaardige moordzaak op een oude man oplossen. De vermoorde man blijkt een held voor de verzetsleden van de Tweede Wereldoorlog te zijn geweest. Hij is doodgeschoten en er is zout in zijn mond gepropt. Hoe meer Pallioti zich in de zaak verdiept, des te meer komt de geest van de oorlog tot leven. Als hij het dagboek van Caterina tussen het bewijsmateriaal vindt, wordt een ontstellende geschiedenis van het verzet en het leven van twee zussen opgerakeld.
470 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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3584 people want to read
About the author
Lucretia Grindle
10 books70 followersLucretia Grindle was born in Boston Massachusetts and grew up spending half her time in the United States and half her time in the UK. Continuing as she started out, she still splits her time, but now calls the coast of Maine home.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews
January 20, 2018
Villa Triste is about a Florentine detective who has three murders to solve. In each case the victim was an elderly war hero and each was made to eat lots of salt before being shot. His efforts to solve the crimes are juxtaposed with a war diary written by a young female nurse who worked for the resistance in Florence during world war two. Gradually the two narratives begin informing each other.
Immediately apparent is how much love the author channelled into this novel. Usually that’s a good thing and that’s the case here too, up to a point. But her heartfelt engagement with her own book also makes it a bit long-winded with lots of overly lavish and unnecessary description which slows the pace down, especially the modern sections. My opinion is that this would have been a better novel had lots of these passages been cut. It’s a long book. Then the fact that the war years were recounted through a diary meant a lot of excitement was sacrificed because everything is being told rather than shown. I had the suspicion the author of The Nightingale might have read this before writing her book – there are two sisters, one heroic and reckless, the other more cautious. The reckless one is called Isabella as is the case in The Nightingale. The war in The Nightingale was more gripping for being narrated directly rather than through the filter of a diary though I found Villa Triste a better written and more lovingly and thoroughly researched book.
So, a bit too long but a very enjoyable read on the whole.
Immediately apparent is how much love the author channelled into this novel. Usually that’s a good thing and that’s the case here too, up to a point. But her heartfelt engagement with her own book also makes it a bit long-winded with lots of overly lavish and unnecessary description which slows the pace down, especially the modern sections. My opinion is that this would have been a better novel had lots of these passages been cut. It’s a long book. Then the fact that the war years were recounted through a diary meant a lot of excitement was sacrificed because everything is being told rather than shown. I had the suspicion the author of The Nightingale might have read this before writing her book – there are two sisters, one heroic and reckless, the other more cautious. The reckless one is called Isabella as is the case in The Nightingale. The war in The Nightingale was more gripping for being narrated directly rather than through the filter of a diary though I found Villa Triste a better written and more lovingly and thoroughly researched book.
So, a bit too long but a very enjoyable read on the whole.
September 28, 2011
The Villa Triste was a fabulous piece of fiction that I'm glad I came across. I enjoyed the book immensely and was gripped the entire time.
The story opens in 1943 Florence. Two sisters: Caterina and Isabella. Their lives – along with all of Italy – are about to be turned upside down. As Italy backs out of the war and severs its alliance with Germany, most of the country immediately becomes occupied by the Nazis. Isabella and their brother Enrico join The Resistance, and soon Caterina has no choice but to help.
After this part, the only way that we find out what has happened to Caterina, Isabella, and their family and comrades is through Caterina's diary, which is found among the possessions of a old man in present day Florence.
An old man is found murdered, and senior policeman Pallioti is summoned by the mayor to take the case. This isn't just any old man – he was one of the Partisans during the war, a hero. Pallioti swipes Caterina's diary from evidence and finds himself immersed in the brave stories of the Partisans and tries to find a connection between the dead man and the names in the diary.
The story just ran so smoothly. As we switched between present day and the diary entries, little bits were uncovered that helped solve mysteries from the past and the mystery of the present. I was just astonished to learn about the members of the Partisans, what they did, how much they risked their lives. Most of them probably didn't know what they were doing, but they knew that had to do something, had to do the right thing.
And it made me sad about the lost futures, those who ended up being executed by the Nazis. And then there were the moments that made me angry, reading about the traitors. I was just feeling all kinds of emotions while reading this. And as the story wore on and bit by bit was uncovered, I thought I was starting to get a clear view of what happened, and by the end, I only got a few things right. Some things I was not even close about.
I got so attached to the characters and what happened to them, hoping that they ended up safe. Some of them did, but some of them didn't. This was the reality. 200,000 Italians were involved in the resistance movement and over 47,000 were killed. Other stats:
Approximately 21,200 Italian partisans wounded or disabled
Approximately 15,000 Italian civilians killed in retaliations
Approximately 40,000 former Italian soldiers died in concentration camps
And sadly, before reading this book, I knew none of this. I highly suggest reading this book, and when you're done, doing a bit a research about the period of time and the folks who lived and died for what they believed in.
The story opens in 1943 Florence. Two sisters: Caterina and Isabella. Their lives – along with all of Italy – are about to be turned upside down. As Italy backs out of the war and severs its alliance with Germany, most of the country immediately becomes occupied by the Nazis. Isabella and their brother Enrico join The Resistance, and soon Caterina has no choice but to help.
After this part, the only way that we find out what has happened to Caterina, Isabella, and their family and comrades is through Caterina's diary, which is found among the possessions of a old man in present day Florence.
An old man is found murdered, and senior policeman Pallioti is summoned by the mayor to take the case. This isn't just any old man – he was one of the Partisans during the war, a hero. Pallioti swipes Caterina's diary from evidence and finds himself immersed in the brave stories of the Partisans and tries to find a connection between the dead man and the names in the diary.
The story just ran so smoothly. As we switched between present day and the diary entries, little bits were uncovered that helped solve mysteries from the past and the mystery of the present. I was just astonished to learn about the members of the Partisans, what they did, how much they risked their lives. Most of them probably didn't know what they were doing, but they knew that had to do something, had to do the right thing.
And it made me sad about the lost futures, those who ended up being executed by the Nazis. And then there were the moments that made me angry, reading about the traitors. I was just feeling all kinds of emotions while reading this. And as the story wore on and bit by bit was uncovered, I thought I was starting to get a clear view of what happened, and by the end, I only got a few things right. Some things I was not even close about.
I got so attached to the characters and what happened to them, hoping that they ended up safe. Some of them did, but some of them didn't. This was the reality. 200,000 Italians were involved in the resistance movement and over 47,000 were killed. Other stats:
Approximately 21,200 Italian partisans wounded or disabled
Approximately 15,000 Italian civilians killed in retaliations
Approximately 40,000 former Italian soldiers died in concentration camps
And sadly, before reading this book, I knew none of this. I highly suggest reading this book, and when you're done, doing a bit a research about the period of time and the folks who lived and died for what they believed in.
May 23, 2014
I absolutely LOVED this book. From the first page, the book captivated my imagination, heart and head with the prose, characters, overall story and subplots. Richly woven and multi-layered, this was the best of several themes from several great books combined: "Trieste," "A Small Death in Lisbon," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and "The Goldfinch." I couldn't read it fast enough, like the need for a drug I raced to get back to the book, it sucked the oxygen from the room, and now I am gasping because it has ended.
The book is ultimately a modern day mystery founded on historical fiction from the Italian resistance movement during WWII. Set in Florence, the story is tender about the relationship between two Italian sisters, Caterina and Isabella, their parents and brother, and a small band of young men who risk their lives to fight against the Germans and Italian fascists. The sisters are brave as conditions deteriorated around them as the Germans were retreating. So many people were lost, so much truth and history evaporated with death, and the past is reawakened and the pieces strung together by Inspector Pallioti. Aside from the strong human characters, Grindle created other rich characters via the little red diary, the two underground resistance radios JULIET and ROMEO, and the group Remember the Fallen.
Grindle is a gifted writer and story teller. Brilliant book!
The book is ultimately a modern day mystery founded on historical fiction from the Italian resistance movement during WWII. Set in Florence, the story is tender about the relationship between two Italian sisters, Caterina and Isabella, their parents and brother, and a small band of young men who risk their lives to fight against the Germans and Italian fascists. The sisters are brave as conditions deteriorated around them as the Germans were retreating. So many people were lost, so much truth and history evaporated with death, and the past is reawakened and the pieces strung together by Inspector Pallioti. Aside from the strong human characters, Grindle created other rich characters via the little red diary, the two underground resistance radios JULIET and ROMEO, and the group Remember the Fallen.
Grindle is a gifted writer and story teller. Brilliant book!
October 4, 2019
Just what I needed: a new favorite author.
I picked up Villa Triste (original title on its first publication, in the UK although Grindle is a US author, The Villa Triste) as an impulse buy at a library book sale, largely because the sale's organizer is a friend and I didn't want to risk offending her by leaving without a few books in my mitts. (That's my excuse, anyway.) All I can say is: Thank heavens for serendipity, because this is probably the book I've most enjoyed all year.
The Villa Triste was the appropriated mansion in Florence where the Fascists and then the Nazis took their victims for torture. (Other torture houses elsewhere shared the name but it's the Florentine one we're concerned with. Even the disgusting regimes that use torture are aware enough of their disgustingness that they hide their crimes behind pretensions of virtue and pretty names.) It's the place above all that Caterina "Cati" Cammaccio dreads as she plies her trade as a nurse in Florence in 1943 and 1944, through the period when Mussolini and his Fascists are ousted and then the Nazis invade to reinstate that tyranny in even more repulsive guise.
Cati and her family despise Fascism. Her younger sister Isabella ("Issa") and her brother Rico begin working with the partisans, and soon Caterina and her parents are drawn into the resistance efforts. We learn through extended extracts from Caterina's journal how she was able to exploit her position as a trusted nurse to help her siblings get escaped POWs and Jews out to Switzerland, and of the friends she made among the partisans.
Those journal extracts, interspersed among the rest of the text, make up at a guesstimate some 25% of this very long text, perhaps more. Through them we get a vivid picture of a Florence tormented by the horrors of war and the scourge of the jackboot, and also of a young woman who becomes a hero in spite of herself. As Issa points out at one stage, she, Issa, has no difficulty being courageous because she thrives on danger, but the timid Cati has no such shield: she's the true hero because she takes all kinds of risks despite her terrors.
The remainder of the book is set in the present day (or thereabouts). Florentine cop Ispettore Alessandro Pallioti is confronted by two murders of elderly men, both of them decorated partisan heroes, both found killed execution-style and with their mouths stuffed with salt -- salt being the traditional currency in which the Fascists paid those who betrayed partisans to them during WWII, when salt was scarce. He finds Cati's journal among the possessions of the first victim, and, as he slowly reads it, becomes convinced that it holds the key to the modern murders . . .
There's some artifice here, of course -- two artifices, in fact. For Cati to have fitted all the words of hers we read into a single pocket-sized notebook would suggest she had to use extremely tiny handwriting. That seems a reasonable hypothesis to explain the other artifice, why Pallioti reads the journal in little dribs and drabs rather than, as would any normal human being and especially an investigating cop, sitting down to whop through it in a single evening: the writing was so small it gave him eyestrain, you see. Or maybe not.
Awareness of these artifices affected my enjoyment of this splendid novel not one single whit. I can recall reading many years ago a 5,000-word short story that had supposedly been written on the back of an envelope by a dying man. It's known as literary license, and it's just fine by me.
So, where do I start explaining quite why I loved this novel so very, very much? First, let's get the obvious out of the way: It's quite beautifully written. I'm sure that, in a novel over 600 pages long, there must have been an ugly turn of phrase somewhere, but, if so, I didn't notice it. I was caught up on the very first page -- the start of an 80+-page extract from Cati's journal -- and kept in a state of complete entrancement for the duration. People rave about the supposedly elegant prose style of crime writers like P.D. James and Susan Hill (whose prose I find to be the kind of excruciatingly pretentious twaddle that bad but expensive fee-paying schools encourage); both those authors would have done well to take lessons from Grindle, whose text here is supremely elegant yet never ostentatiously so, wonderfully readable yet without making any lowest-common-denominator compromises. The book is just a joy to read.
Then there are the characters. The timorous lioness Cati is the kind of friend we all wish we had more of in our lives; I think I've probably fallen in love with her. Issa is a strong character too, although for obvious reasons not as immediately likable. The middle-aged Pallioti and his youthful sidekick Enzo are gloriously human creations; the former is now my favorite Italian cop, surpassing even the late Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano. Cati's and Issa's papa stands out as someone I think I'd recognize immediately if I met him, and likewise the partisan who goes by the moniker Il Corvo. The list goes on . . .
As for the solution to the murders Pallioti is investigating? It's not so very hard to unpick, but that's hardly the point of the novel. The real mystery that exercises the mind -- or it did my mind, anyway -- concerns which (if either) of the two sisters, Cati and Issa, has survived into Pallioti's time. I kept hoping it was both.
As perhaps you've read between the lines, I liked The Villa Triste a very great deal. Even before I'd finished it I'd invested in three of Grindle's other novels, and the first arrived today. Expect more Grindle here soon.
I picked up Villa Triste (original title on its first publication, in the UK although Grindle is a US author, The Villa Triste) as an impulse buy at a library book sale, largely because the sale's organizer is a friend and I didn't want to risk offending her by leaving without a few books in my mitts. (That's my excuse, anyway.) All I can say is: Thank heavens for serendipity, because this is probably the book I've most enjoyed all year.
The Villa Triste was the appropriated mansion in Florence where the Fascists and then the Nazis took their victims for torture. (Other torture houses elsewhere shared the name but it's the Florentine one we're concerned with. Even the disgusting regimes that use torture are aware enough of their disgustingness that they hide their crimes behind pretensions of virtue and pretty names.) It's the place above all that Caterina "Cati" Cammaccio dreads as she plies her trade as a nurse in Florence in 1943 and 1944, through the period when Mussolini and his Fascists are ousted and then the Nazis invade to reinstate that tyranny in even more repulsive guise.
Cati and her family despise Fascism. Her younger sister Isabella ("Issa") and her brother Rico begin working with the partisans, and soon Caterina and her parents are drawn into the resistance efforts. We learn through extended extracts from Caterina's journal how she was able to exploit her position as a trusted nurse to help her siblings get escaped POWs and Jews out to Switzerland, and of the friends she made among the partisans.
Those journal extracts, interspersed among the rest of the text, make up at a guesstimate some 25% of this very long text, perhaps more. Through them we get a vivid picture of a Florence tormented by the horrors of war and the scourge of the jackboot, and also of a young woman who becomes a hero in spite of herself. As Issa points out at one stage, she, Issa, has no difficulty being courageous because she thrives on danger, but the timid Cati has no such shield: she's the true hero because she takes all kinds of risks despite her terrors.
The remainder of the book is set in the present day (or thereabouts). Florentine cop Ispettore Alessandro Pallioti is confronted by two murders of elderly men, both of them decorated partisan heroes, both found killed execution-style and with their mouths stuffed with salt -- salt being the traditional currency in which the Fascists paid those who betrayed partisans to them during WWII, when salt was scarce. He finds Cati's journal among the possessions of the first victim, and, as he slowly reads it, becomes convinced that it holds the key to the modern murders . . .
There's some artifice here, of course -- two artifices, in fact. For Cati to have fitted all the words of hers we read into a single pocket-sized notebook would suggest she had to use extremely tiny handwriting. That seems a reasonable hypothesis to explain the other artifice, why Pallioti reads the journal in little dribs and drabs rather than, as would any normal human being and especially an investigating cop, sitting down to whop through it in a single evening: the writing was so small it gave him eyestrain, you see. Or maybe not.
Awareness of these artifices affected my enjoyment of this splendid novel not one single whit. I can recall reading many years ago a 5,000-word short story that had supposedly been written on the back of an envelope by a dying man. It's known as literary license, and it's just fine by me.
So, where do I start explaining quite why I loved this novel so very, very much? First, let's get the obvious out of the way: It's quite beautifully written. I'm sure that, in a novel over 600 pages long, there must have been an ugly turn of phrase somewhere, but, if so, I didn't notice it. I was caught up on the very first page -- the start of an 80+-page extract from Cati's journal -- and kept in a state of complete entrancement for the duration. People rave about the supposedly elegant prose style of crime writers like P.D. James and Susan Hill (whose prose I find to be the kind of excruciatingly pretentious twaddle that bad but expensive fee-paying schools encourage); both those authors would have done well to take lessons from Grindle, whose text here is supremely elegant yet never ostentatiously so, wonderfully readable yet without making any lowest-common-denominator compromises. The book is just a joy to read.
Then there are the characters. The timorous lioness Cati is the kind of friend we all wish we had more of in our lives; I think I've probably fallen in love with her. Issa is a strong character too, although for obvious reasons not as immediately likable. The middle-aged Pallioti and his youthful sidekick Enzo are gloriously human creations; the former is now my favorite Italian cop, surpassing even the late Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano. Cati's and Issa's papa stands out as someone I think I'd recognize immediately if I met him, and likewise the partisan who goes by the moniker Il Corvo. The list goes on . . .
As for the solution to the murders Pallioti is investigating? It's not so very hard to unpick, but that's hardly the point of the novel. The real mystery that exercises the mind -- or it did my mind, anyway -- concerns which (if either) of the two sisters, Cati and Issa, has survived into Pallioti's time. I kept hoping it was both.
As perhaps you've read between the lines, I liked The Villa Triste a very great deal. Even before I'd finished it I'd invested in three of Grindle's other novels, and the first arrived today. Expect more Grindle here soon.
July 3, 2013
Isabella and Caterina are sisters in a very close family. Caterina's fiancé is in southern Italy with the army, and their brother is also in the fight. When Mussolini signs a compact with Hitler, things change dramatically for this Florentine family -- Isabella joins the resistance fighters and Caterina, a nurse, is reluctantly drawn in.
Flash forward to present time. Someone is apparently targeting war heroes -- murdering two of the elderly men honored at a recent ceremony for Italian heroes of the resistance. When the chief inspector comes across a Caterina's diary in one of the victim's personal effects, things get complicated.
This is a wonderfully crafted mystery set in two time periods. The characters are fully developed and interesting. As Caterina's and Isabella's stories are revealed, the reader is set squarely in Italy during the 1940s. Their story is at times exciting and at others heartbreaking. The way in which their story is woven into the present day mystery is captivating. For most of the book, the stories are parallel, but separate and equally intriguing. Once the connection is revealed, I couldn't put it down. I admit I'm a fan of historical fiction, especially set in the last 100 years or so, but this one has many elements to attract a reader -- romance, adventure, mystery, and a piece of history mostly unknown to Americans. A very enjoyable and quick read. I can't believe it was over 600 pages.
Flash forward to present time. Someone is apparently targeting war heroes -- murdering two of the elderly men honored at a recent ceremony for Italian heroes of the resistance. When the chief inspector comes across a Caterina's diary in one of the victim's personal effects, things get complicated.
This is a wonderfully crafted mystery set in two time periods. The characters are fully developed and interesting. As Caterina's and Isabella's stories are revealed, the reader is set squarely in Italy during the 1940s. Their story is at times exciting and at others heartbreaking. The way in which their story is woven into the present day mystery is captivating. For most of the book, the stories are parallel, but separate and equally intriguing. Once the connection is revealed, I couldn't put it down. I admit I'm a fan of historical fiction, especially set in the last 100 years or so, but this one has many elements to attract a reader -- romance, adventure, mystery, and a piece of history mostly unknown to Americans. A very enjoyable and quick read. I can't believe it was over 600 pages.
August 14, 2013
What a great combination of historical fiction and a major who-done-it! Set in beautiful Florence, Italy, the author immediately applies a stranglehold to your mind, never letting up. The story begins in WWII Florence immediately following the step-down of Mussolini which, in turn, caused former fellow Axis member, Nazi Germany, to invade Italy. The stage is set for the story of two sisters, both working for the Partisan movement to help Jewish families and Allied soldiers trapped behind enemy lines to escape to safety. Then the story flips to Florence, circa 2006, with a strong leading character, a newly promoted Police inspector, Alessandro Pallioti. Barely ensconced in his new and much larger office, he learns that one of the few remaining decorated-for-heroism partisans has been found shot in the back of the head in his apartment with his mouth and stomach stuffed with salt. Then another aging partisan hero is found murdered in the same way. That's when the story becomes supercharged amidst the back and forth of the time periods. The search for the killer in modern Florence interspersed with the partisan group's struggles to help the Allies end the war is non-stop action. All characters are beautifully developed, and the use of Florence as a backdrop, one of the most beautiful cities I've seen, make this one of the most riveting stories I've read. Two HUGE thumbs up to "Villa Triste."
December 3, 2011
This was an okay read and did get better toward the end. But it could have been much better. The book was marred by a couple of things. One is(especially early on) that the author tended to slip into trite usages-- things like "her heart stopped". Well, no, it didn't, otherwise they'd be calling 911! The other thing was that she tried to build up encounters artificially -- lots of needless description of the setting before the characters get down to whatever it was they had to talk about. The author just teases us. She also liked to withhold information that she knew but wasnn't going to let us in on it. A favorite tactic of lesser authors.
Finally, I found the scenes in the past less convincing than those in the present. Which was too bad since the title is Villa Triste. I would like to have really felt and seen what that villa was like. I got the sense that the author wasn't really up to describing such horror, even in a subtle less-is-more sort of way.
Still it wasn't bad.
Finally, I found the scenes in the past less convincing than those in the present. Which was too bad since the title is Villa Triste. I would like to have really felt and seen what that villa was like. I got the sense that the author wasn't really up to describing such horror, even in a subtle less-is-more sort of way.
Still it wasn't bad.
March 11, 2013
De toon van deze detective is heel traditioneel en dat vond ik een verademing in vergelijking met al die thrillers van de laatste jaren, waar het bloed van de bladzijden spet. Deze detective is interessant omdat er twee paralelle geschiedenissen worden verteld die allebei hecht met elkaar verbonden zijn. Het verhaal en de daden van de twee zusters in Florence tijdens WW-II hebben direct te maken met de moorden die de inspecteur in de huidige tijd onderzoekt. Boeiend om over de situatie in 1943 in Florence en ook Italië in het algemeen te lezen. Ik had bijvoorbeeld geen idee dat de bevolking meer angst had voor de Italiaanse fascisten dan voor de Duitsers. Ook vond ik het opmerkelijk dat de mensen de komst van de Geallieerden met angst tegemoet zagen. Het verhaal had best wat bondiger opgeschreven kunnen worden, soms was het wel erg traag. Ik vond het een ouderwetse detective met goed speurwerk en een sympathieke inspecteur. Ik noem het met opzet geen thriller, want je zit niet met ingehouden adem te lezen. Aanrader!
March 15, 2013
This could have been a terrific novel about the resistance movement in Italy in WWII and a modern day murder that results from those events, but it has two major flaws. The worst is this: it should have been edited down to perhaps 420 pages. Particularly in the modern day sections, the author makes a point, and makes it again, and makes it yet again, for 6 or 8 pages of no forward progress. That gets old quickly and led me to start skimming in those sections. The second problem is that the modern day mystery's solution is obvious early on, at least to anyone who reads mysteries.
Where have all the editors gone? Books get published with severe grammatical errors (though the grammar is fine in this book)...books get published that need major blue-pencil work; what's up with that? If they aren't going to edit any more, how are "real" publishers different than the self-publishers on kindle, except for charging five times as much?
Where have all the editors gone? Books get published with severe grammatical errors (though the grammar is fine in this book)...books get published that need major blue-pencil work; what's up with that? If they aren't going to edit any more, how are "real" publishers different than the self-publishers on kindle, except for charging five times as much?
October 26, 2019
Italy and World War II - a difficult place to be. This book illustrates this fact in a moving tale tracking the fate of a family caught up in the Resistance during the German occupation.
I wrote a long review for this long book and then decided to erase it.
Why haven't I utilized proper labeling to categorize books on the shelf tag utility in goodreads? I would have liked to compare this one to several other books I have enjoyed covering this same topic. Oh well. It's a project I will start now perhaps.
Library Loan
I wrote a long review for this long book and then decided to erase it.
Why haven't I utilized proper labeling to categorize books on the shelf tag utility in goodreads? I would have liked to compare this one to several other books I have enjoyed covering this same topic. Oh well. It's a project I will start now perhaps.
Library Loan
March 4, 2014
I probably shouldn't write this review yet because I'm still reeling from the end of the book. I'm one of those people who reacts differently after a day or two, but in this case, I don't think I'm going to change my mind.
This book was beautiful. Odd to say about a book with gritty executions partially set in 1940s occupied Florence, Italy. But the writing itself was beautiful.
The story begins with Caterina and Isabella (Cati and Issa) in Florence as the armistice is declared, just before Germany invades. The first few chapters draw you in to their lives and you don't want to leave. Then you move to present day and the mystery of two rather grisly executions. The inspector on the case, while investigating, comes across a journal written by Cati. His interest in the journal keeps the reader involved with both parts of the story. He comes across as a little stodgy and, until he found the journal, boring and career-focused. Normally that would be hard to read because a character like that can be hard for me to connect with. But the journal draws him out and gives him depth.
To me, the journal is the most amazing part (in case you can't tell). Even though what you learn of the sisters is limited to interspersed journal entries, you feel like you are still part of their lives. Like you are getting a glimpse of history and some tiny idea of what that daily struggle was like. The parallels between past and present, dead and living were well done.
Overall, one of the best books I've read in a while.
This book was beautiful. Odd to say about a book with gritty executions partially set in 1940s occupied Florence, Italy. But the writing itself was beautiful.
The story begins with Caterina and Isabella (Cati and Issa) in Florence as the armistice is declared, just before Germany invades. The first few chapters draw you in to their lives and you don't want to leave. Then you move to present day and the mystery of two rather grisly executions. The inspector on the case, while investigating, comes across a journal written by Cati. His interest in the journal keeps the reader involved with both parts of the story. He comes across as a little stodgy and, until he found the journal, boring and career-focused. Normally that would be hard to read because a character like that can be hard for me to connect with. But the journal draws him out and gives him depth.
To me, the journal is the most amazing part (in case you can't tell). Even though what you learn of the sisters is limited to interspersed journal entries, you feel like you are still part of their lives. Like you are getting a glimpse of history and some tiny idea of what that daily struggle was like. The parallels between past and present, dead and living were well done.
Overall, one of the best books I've read in a while.
November 22, 2010
Another brilliant "find". This is one that'd appeal equally to those of you who like detective fiction (Pallioti's a really endearing character, a bit of a Florentine Morse with his slightly rougher sidekick, Enzo) and romantic dual time narrative. The book opens with Isabella and Caterina, two fairly well-off sisters in Florence in 1943, and tells of their growing involvement with the partisans as the Allies move North through Italy to drive out the Germans. We then switch to the modern story, the murders of some elderly ex-partisans - but the sisters' stories continue through Caterina's notebooks. It all seems very well-researched, is beautifully written (longish, but a real page-turner) with a strong sense of place: the wartime story is gripping and emotional, and the detective story is really well done. The tying together at the end is absolutely spot-on (I almost guessed it, but not quite...) - I do hope she writes more Pallioti stories. Highly recommended - and thanks to Caroline who passed this one on for my birthday.
January 12, 2015
I ended up really enjoying this WW11 story told from the perspective of two sisters, who were very different, but ended up fighting for the same cause. This took place in Italy, so I once again learned about a different angle and "side" of this war. This was as awful as the rest. Same terror…different location. I liked both the historical story from the past and the modern day mystery. I felt the author did a great job of making both stories equally as exciting and interesting. The book was very good. I did feel a few different times that it could have been shorter. Still, I would recommend.
August 16, 2010
A novel with a great sense of time and place: The book begins as Caterina prepares for her wedding in September 1943. She is a nurse, but her sister Isabella, a University student is already involved in an underground group determined to resist the German occupation. Reluctantly Caterina becomes involved as her nursing skills prove useful in getting Jews and others whose lives are threatened out of Italy.
However, in the 21st century a man is murdered: a man who has recently received a medal for his part as a partisan, fighting the Germans. Among his effects is a notebook written during the war by Caterina recording the activities of the local partisan group. There appears to be little or nothing to link the two together, but Pallioti - the police detective - is determined to seek out the truth.
Set in Florence, the book is an eye-opener revealing the intrigue and anguish caused by German/ allied conflict after the Italians signed an armistice with the allies. However, it is also a modern detective story as the past returns to haunt those left alive.
Although I didn't always find it easy to keep track of the characters many of whom went by several different names, the book is well written, and held my interest right to the end.
However, in the 21st century a man is murdered: a man who has recently received a medal for his part as a partisan, fighting the Germans. Among his effects is a notebook written during the war by Caterina recording the activities of the local partisan group. There appears to be little or nothing to link the two together, but Pallioti - the police detective - is determined to seek out the truth.
Set in Florence, the book is an eye-opener revealing the intrigue and anguish caused by German/ allied conflict after the Italians signed an armistice with the allies. However, it is also a modern detective story as the past returns to haunt those left alive.
Although I didn't always find it easy to keep track of the characters many of whom went by several different names, the book is well written, and held my interest right to the end.
February 2, 2018
This book was one part literary novel, one part thriller/murder mystery, and one part historical fiction. The story alternates back and forth between Nazi-occupied Florence, where two sisters become caught up in the resistance movement, and modern-day Florence, where a police inspector tries to solve the murders of two old men, both decorated former partisan fighters. The stories weave together well, but not too quickly that the reader can see the endgame far in advance. We discover things at the same speed the inspector does, and this gradual unfolding is one of the novel's strengths.
The writing itself is lovely, with beautiful sentences and description; yet at the same time the author describes the brutality of both the Nazis and the Italian Facists in such a stark, unsparing way that she manages to drive home the horrors and violence of the war unlike many other books I've read that deal with the period.
The characterization of the two freedom fighting sisters, Isabella and Caterina, is extremely thoughtful and well done, as is the characterization of Inspector Pallioti and many of the secondary characters as well.
I would recommend this to those interested in WWII or Italian history, or anyone who likes that ever-elusive literary page turner.
The writing itself is lovely, with beautiful sentences and description; yet at the same time the author describes the brutality of both the Nazis and the Italian Facists in such a stark, unsparing way that she manages to drive home the horrors and violence of the war unlike many other books I've read that deal with the period.
The characterization of the two freedom fighting sisters, Isabella and Caterina, is extremely thoughtful and well done, as is the characterization of Inspector Pallioti and many of the secondary characters as well.
I would recommend this to those interested in WWII or Italian history, or anyone who likes that ever-elusive literary page turner.
May 25, 2014
I'd never heard of this book before.
An old man is murdered, salt is found in his mouth, he is a dealer in antique pornographic prints. Another old man is found miles away in another Italian city, killed in a similar fashion. The investigator finds they are connected, both were involved in Italy's partisan movement during WWII. A journal from that era, written by a young woman who worked as a nurse, is woven into the story.
To tell anymore would spoil it - suffice it to say that you enjoy reading about the second World War and Italy, this book is well worth reading. There's a nice pace to it, appealing characters, and a nice twisty plot. Enjoy.
An old man is murdered, salt is found in his mouth, he is a dealer in antique pornographic prints. Another old man is found miles away in another Italian city, killed in a similar fashion. The investigator finds they are connected, both were involved in Italy's partisan movement during WWII. A journal from that era, written by a young woman who worked as a nurse, is woven into the story.
To tell anymore would spoil it - suffice it to say that you enjoy reading about the second World War and Italy, this book is well worth reading. There's a nice pace to it, appealing characters, and a nice twisty plot. Enjoy.
June 5, 2011
An ordinary family living in Florence against the backdrop of the second world war gets involved with the partisan movement...the choices they make change their lives forever and create the circumstances leading to murder many years later.
Really well written, this book has believable and human characters, a moving account of how 'ordinary people do extraordinary things', an elegant investigator and very skilful interplay between the past and the present... sad, beautiful, complex and exciting - I really enjoyed this book!
Really well written, this book has believable and human characters, a moving account of how 'ordinary people do extraordinary things', an elegant investigator and very skilful interplay between the past and the present... sad, beautiful, complex and exciting - I really enjoyed this book!
April 6, 2015
I bought this book a couple of years ago because of a recommendation on Twitter but just got round to reading it. I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first, as I found the characters a bit prickly and difficult. However, that was just setting the stage for some family dynamics that were integral to the plot. This was a very gripping read, very compelling. The actual mystery wasn't too difficult to figure out, but that didn't diminish the story. I found that I cared very much about what happened to the characters. Recommended!
November 30, 2012
I thought the book flowed in a natural order, with time. Most WWII books are written by men, and have that slight twist. This book followed that type of twist but ended up with a great ending.
June 12, 2013
Interessant onderwerp, alleen hier en daar wat theatraal geschreven.
June 29, 2022
4,25 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover
Het zijn eigenlijk 2 boeken die door elkaar heen zijn geweven:
Ten eerste het verhaal van twee zusters die in Florence de oorlog doormaken, Caterina als verpleegster en Isabella als lid van de partizanen, uiteindelijk speelt later Caterina ook een belangrijk deel in het verzet waar haar zus deel van uitmaakt, uiteindelijk wordt verraad hun deel en hoewel de twee zussen het als enige van de familie overleven, blijven ze op zoek naar hun verraders.
Ten tweede het verhaal van Allesandro Pallioti die wordt geconfronteerd met de moord op twee bejaarde mannen, die schijnbaar met elkaar te maken hebben, bij beiden wordt zout die zij zijn gedwongen te eten, ontdekt. Nou wil het feit dat verraders in de oorlog van de duitsers 5 pond zout kregen als beloning.
Uiteindelijk lopen deze 2 verhalen in een prachtige opbouw in elkaar over en moet Pallioti op zoek naar iemand uit de periode van de tweede wereldoorlog de oorlogs- periode. En uiteindelijk komt het tot een verrassende ontknoping.
Ik vond buitengewoon mooie thriller, die door de het verhaal van de oorlog heen, veel meer biedt dan de doorsnee-thriller, dus een aanrader.
Het zijn eigenlijk 2 boeken die door elkaar heen zijn geweven:
Ten eerste het verhaal van twee zusters die in Florence de oorlog doormaken, Caterina als verpleegster en Isabella als lid van de partizanen, uiteindelijk speelt later Caterina ook een belangrijk deel in het verzet waar haar zus deel van uitmaakt, uiteindelijk wordt verraad hun deel en hoewel de twee zussen het als enige van de familie overleven, blijven ze op zoek naar hun verraders.
Ten tweede het verhaal van Allesandro Pallioti die wordt geconfronteerd met de moord op twee bejaarde mannen, die schijnbaar met elkaar te maken hebben, bij beiden wordt zout die zij zijn gedwongen te eten, ontdekt. Nou wil het feit dat verraders in de oorlog van de duitsers 5 pond zout kregen als beloning.
Uiteindelijk lopen deze 2 verhalen in een prachtige opbouw in elkaar over en moet Pallioti op zoek naar iemand uit de periode van de tweede wereldoorlog de oorlogs- periode. En uiteindelijk komt het tot een verrassende ontknoping.
Ik vond buitengewoon mooie thriller, die door de het verhaal van de oorlog heen, veel meer biedt dan de doorsnee-thriller, dus een aanrader.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2020
This book was just ok to me. I think I would have preferred that it followed the stories of Isabella and Caterina because they were remarkable. I did not like that the author spoke from the perspective of Caterina in Part 1 and then switched to using her diary as her voice in the subsequent Parts 2-4 of the book. Jumping back and forth from past to present day didn’t work that well in this book. I found the names to be confusing at times because some of the characters had 3 or 4 names. I do think that the ending, where we discover the true identity of Il Spettro was satisfying and also fitting that she was the one who brought justice. However, I do think it’s unfortunate that we don’t hear Caterina’s voice because she was the one that the story was initially about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2020
This is the second book of three with a common character, ispettore Alessandro Pallioti. Villa Triste is the story of two sisters in Italy in the Second World War. One is a partisan, the other a nurse who also works with the partisans. It is also a murder mystery in modern day Florence, that ispettore Alessandro Pallioti is trying to solve.
Lucretia Grindle has a nice style of writing and she has no trouble bringing her characters - and Florence of past and present to life. Highly recommended.
Lucretia Grindle has a nice style of writing and she has no trouble bringing her characters - and Florence of past and present to life. Highly recommended.
March 12, 2021
Indrukwekkend!
May 28, 2023
Wauw wat een goed boek! Door dit boek veel geleerd over Italië in de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
July 19, 2022
Liked this one for its historical backdrop, mystery plot, and interesting characters. It could’ve moved faster in parts — I felt like it had a suspenseful beginning, slower middle, and suspenseful end. But because I don’t mind extra detail, I’d still give 4 stars.
March 22, 2013
At 629 pages, the sheer size of this volume initially overwhelmed me, and I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I hadn't won a copy through a Goodreads giveaway. Connecting the past with the present, this was more of a current-era murder mystery than I thought it would be. Once I warmed up to this concept, however, I actually found the mystery angle to be quite intriguing. The writing was good, the story was never dull, and there were just enough leads and diversions to keep me guessing right until the end.
But . . . unfortunately, I did have quite a few issues with the moral implications of the plot. The book is written from a rather grim, secular worldview. The main characters don't seem to have any faith, and at least one explicitly states that she doesn't believe in God. It's not that I feel every book has to incorporate a sermon; it was just sad for me to read about characters that went through such hard things without any faith to sustain them.
There is also a smattering of foul language in this book. There's not an f-word in every chapter or anything like that, but I recall at least one f-word, as well as multiple abuses of God's name, and some other profanities. An out-of-wedlock pregnancy plays a major role in the plot, and the characters seem to find nothing wrong with this. A minor character is involved in an adulterous affair, which is mentioned once, and some references are made to another character's failing marriage. There are also a few mentions of porn, never in any detail, but it's not something I like reading about in any case. I wondered why that element was even incorporated into the story. Finally, there is one incidence that could be called a sex scene, although it is handled very discreetly and nothing is described. It would actually be easy to miss altogether if not for the veiled references made to it later on in the story.
The narrative detailing the events and destruction of WWII are often heavy and written in a way that makes it all seem like a surreal sort of nightmare (which is probably what it seemed like to those living it). There are also portrayals of wartime violence, death, etc. and modern-day murders that are truly sad and horrific. I don't necessarily object to the handling of the violent events (I don't recall it getting overly gratuitous); I'm just mentioning it in case anyone picks this up expecting a light story. Some parts are definitely hard to read about.
Perhaps my main problem with the story, though, was the fact that
In conclusion, while this story was well-written and entertaining with definite potential, the lack of an ultimate redeeming moral framework rendered it quite unsatisfactory. Without that, for me, the experience just wasn't worth it.
But . . . unfortunately, I did have quite a few issues with the moral implications of the plot. The book is written from a rather grim, secular worldview. The main characters don't seem to have any faith, and at least one explicitly states that she doesn't believe in God. It's not that I feel every book has to incorporate a sermon; it was just sad for me to read about characters that went through such hard things without any faith to sustain them.
There is also a smattering of foul language in this book. There's not an f-word in every chapter or anything like that, but I recall at least one f-word, as well as multiple abuses of God's name, and some other profanities. An out-of-wedlock pregnancy plays a major role in the plot, and the characters seem to find nothing wrong with this. A minor character is involved in an adulterous affair, which is mentioned once, and some references are made to another character's failing marriage. There are also a few mentions of porn, never in any detail, but it's not something I like reading about in any case. I wondered why that element was even incorporated into the story. Finally, there is one incidence that could be called a sex scene, although it is handled very discreetly and nothing is described. It would actually be easy to miss altogether if not for the veiled references made to it later on in the story.
The narrative detailing the events and destruction of WWII are often heavy and written in a way that makes it all seem like a surreal sort of nightmare (which is probably what it seemed like to those living it). There are also portrayals of wartime violence, death, etc. and modern-day murders that are truly sad and horrific. I don't necessarily object to the handling of the violent events (I don't recall it getting overly gratuitous); I'm just mentioning it in case anyone picks this up expecting a light story. Some parts are definitely hard to read about.
Perhaps my main problem with the story, though, was the fact that
In conclusion, while this story was well-written and entertaining with definite potential, the lack of an ultimate redeeming moral framework rendered it quite unsatisfactory. Without that, for me, the experience just wasn't worth it.
March 29, 2013
Ik dacht een boek te gaan lezen over het Italië in WO II. Over een familie in oorlogstijd en de gevolgen daarvan op hun leven. Ook na een stukje in het boek te hebben gelezen, verkeerde ik nog steeds in die veronderstelling. Begrijp me niet verkeerd, dat is óók zo, maar ik was verrast toen er ineens een sprong in de tijd werd gemaakt. Van 1943 springen we naar het Florence van 2006 en een oude man blijkt te zijn vermoord. Politiechef Pallioti wordt belast met het onderzoek naar de moordenaar. De roman blijkt ineens ook een thriller te zijn.
Het verhaal gaat weer verder in 1943. De zusjes Caterina en Isabella Gammacio wonen nog thuis. Zij hebben achtereenvolgens te maken met de fascisten van Mussolini en de Duitse bezetter. De zusjes en hun familie proberen ieder op hun eigen manier te helpen bij het in veiligheid brengen van Joden en geallieerden. Het bieden van die hulp heeft uiteindelijk ingrijpende gevolgen.
Het duurt even voor het verband tussen beide verhaallijnen duidelijk wordt. Ik heb dan toch al een vijfde deel van het boek gelezen. Een beetje geduld moet je wel hebben. Je hoeft je niet ongerust te maken de draad kwijt te raken want Grindle heeft het niet gecompliceerd gemaakt. Het is altijd volstrekt duidelijk op welke datum en op welke plaats iets zich afspeelt. Persoonlijk houd ik wel van romans met verschillende verhaallijnen die zich afspelen in heden en verleden. Twee verhaallijnen waarvan je vermoedt dat ze met elkaar te maken zullen hebben maar nog geen idee hoe, nodigen uit tot doorlezen. In mijn geval moet ik me bedwingen om niet steeds sneller te gaan lezen .
Grindle geeft de personages relatief veel aandacht. De politiechef komt er wat bekaaid vanaf maar het verhaal gaat ook niet over hem. Hij is een instrument van de schrijver om de verhaallijnen bij elkaar te brengen.
Het boek is vlot geschreven en leest lekker weg. Daarbij is het ook spannend want bij die ene moord blijft het niet en de clou van het verhaal blijft tot het eind bewaard.
Soms vond ik de zinnen wat al te kort geschreven en wat betreft taalgebruik niet zo sterk. Daarbij is het natuurlijk de vraag of de auteur het zo op papier heeft gezet of dat de vertaler niet zo'n beste dag had. Ik heb de originele versie niet gelezen en kan dit daarom niet beoordelen. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan twee zinnen achter elkaar met "toen" als eerste woord. Maar ook een passage waarbij de zinnen achtereenvolgens beginnen met "hij had", "hij had", "maar hij had", "hij keek", "als hij snel was" en "hij stak over". Niet zo heel fraai en het stoort enigszins.
Al met al is Villa Triste een lekker boek om te lezen. Voor mijzelf was er een bewustwording van het feit dat ik eigenlijk niet zoveel weet over Italië in de WO II. Er worden naar mijn idee ook aanmerkelijk minder boeken op de markt gebracht met Italië in WO II als thema dan over Duitsland, Frankrijk of Engeland.
Een diepgaande roman moet je niet verwachten maar als je op zoek bent naar een aardig boek voor op vakantie of in je luie stoel tijdens een regenachtig weekend dan is Villa Triste zeer geschikt.
Het verhaal gaat weer verder in 1943. De zusjes Caterina en Isabella Gammacio wonen nog thuis. Zij hebben achtereenvolgens te maken met de fascisten van Mussolini en de Duitse bezetter. De zusjes en hun familie proberen ieder op hun eigen manier te helpen bij het in veiligheid brengen van Joden en geallieerden. Het bieden van die hulp heeft uiteindelijk ingrijpende gevolgen.
Het duurt even voor het verband tussen beide verhaallijnen duidelijk wordt. Ik heb dan toch al een vijfde deel van het boek gelezen. Een beetje geduld moet je wel hebben. Je hoeft je niet ongerust te maken de draad kwijt te raken want Grindle heeft het niet gecompliceerd gemaakt. Het is altijd volstrekt duidelijk op welke datum en op welke plaats iets zich afspeelt. Persoonlijk houd ik wel van romans met verschillende verhaallijnen die zich afspelen in heden en verleden. Twee verhaallijnen waarvan je vermoedt dat ze met elkaar te maken zullen hebben maar nog geen idee hoe, nodigen uit tot doorlezen. In mijn geval moet ik me bedwingen om niet steeds sneller te gaan lezen .
Grindle geeft de personages relatief veel aandacht. De politiechef komt er wat bekaaid vanaf maar het verhaal gaat ook niet over hem. Hij is een instrument van de schrijver om de verhaallijnen bij elkaar te brengen.
Het boek is vlot geschreven en leest lekker weg. Daarbij is het ook spannend want bij die ene moord blijft het niet en de clou van het verhaal blijft tot het eind bewaard.
Soms vond ik de zinnen wat al te kort geschreven en wat betreft taalgebruik niet zo sterk. Daarbij is het natuurlijk de vraag of de auteur het zo op papier heeft gezet of dat de vertaler niet zo'n beste dag had. Ik heb de originele versie niet gelezen en kan dit daarom niet beoordelen. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan twee zinnen achter elkaar met "toen" als eerste woord. Maar ook een passage waarbij de zinnen achtereenvolgens beginnen met "hij had", "hij had", "maar hij had", "hij keek", "als hij snel was" en "hij stak over". Niet zo heel fraai en het stoort enigszins.
Al met al is Villa Triste een lekker boek om te lezen. Voor mijzelf was er een bewustwording van het feit dat ik eigenlijk niet zoveel weet over Italië in de WO II. Er worden naar mijn idee ook aanmerkelijk minder boeken op de markt gebracht met Italië in WO II als thema dan over Duitsland, Frankrijk of Engeland.
Een diepgaande roman moet je niet verwachten maar als je op zoek bent naar een aardig boek voor op vakantie of in je luie stoel tijdens een regenachtig weekend dan is Villa Triste zeer geschikt.
September 18, 2022
Really good novel with great twist and ending. It did feel a bit unnecessarily long in the middle
August 22, 2021
Spannend en lekker leesbaar boek. Speelt zich af in het verzet van Italië in WO2. De dagboek fragmenten van een van de hoofdpersonen afgewisseld met het politie onderzoek jaren later naar de moord van 3 oude mannen maakt het verhaal extra spannend. Stukje bij beetje word je naar de ontknoping geleid.
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