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The Butterfly Box
Federica Campione adores her father. No matter that Ramon, a distinguished traveller and writer, spends months away from their home on the exotic Chilean coast; as soon as he's back, his daughter has eyes for no one but him. When he gives her a magical box from Peru she believes he will always be there for her.
As she grows to womanhood, Federica attempts to recapture that long-forgotten sense of security in the arms of the debonair Torquil Jensen. From the sanctuary of a seemingly perfect marriage, she embarks on a painful journey of self-discovery. But can Federica ever truly escape her gilded cage and learn the true lesson of the butterfly box?
As she grows to womanhood, Federica attempts to recapture that long-forgotten sense of security in the arms of the debonair Torquil Jensen. From the sanctuary of a seemingly perfect marriage, she embarks on a painful journey of self-discovery. But can Federica ever truly escape her gilded cage and learn the true lesson of the butterfly box?
608 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2002
263 people are currently reading
2127 people want to read
About the author
Santa Montefiore
88 books2,688 followersSanta Montefiore is the number one bestselling author of over thirty novels and has sold over eight million copies worldwide. Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages and she won an RNA Award for The Temptation of Gracie in 2019, which is currently in development for film. Born in England in 1970, she grew up in Hampshire and now lives in London with her husband, writer Simon Sebag-Montefiore, their daughter, son, and dog Simba.
Shadows in the Moonlight is the first novel of a trilogy following the character Pixie Tate, with Secrets of the Starlit Sea following in summer 2025. Santa loves to hear from readers and you can find her at www.santamontefiore.co.uk.
Shadows in the Moonlight is the first novel of a trilogy following the character Pixie Tate, with Secrets of the Starlit Sea following in summer 2025. Santa loves to hear from readers and you can find her at www.santamontefiore.co.uk.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews
October 21, 2010
I'm not sure whether I enjoyed this book or utterly loathed it. Some of the characters in the book (Nuno, Toby, Julian, Sam, etc) redeemed this to 4 stars otherwise I'd most likely rate it a 0 star.
Ramon Campione Story
The plot totally lost integrity for me due to the sexist, irritating, weak, condescending creep that is Ramon Campione (the principal protagonist's father). He was an unmitigated diaster - the most selfish, pathetic weak loathsome being whom I felt utter disgust. Furthermore, who possessed the utter audacity to justify his weakness and utter immorality behind the most shallow arguments to convince the readers why he was a terrible absentee father and husband i.e. blaming his wife (a feeble minded creature called Helena).
I'm not a vindictive person, however, if Roman had received his just desserts than I would have felt satisfied with the ending. However, this book was a treatise to his utter nonsense.
Every feminist will be insulted by Ramon Campione and Helena's story. Its an affront to women's lib. The age old burden of blaming a woman for a man's weakness. I appreciate Helena has some culpability in the events that took place, however, considering the circumstances, Ramon is seriously a horrid piece of work hiding behind an affable exterior and a misguided philosophy.
Helana's story is rather tragic in a pathetic way. She's a feeble minded bimbo of a character, however, she did not deserve her fate. Perhaps if she had not married so young and had learned more from life she would have been a better person. All I can say is – thank God for career women. Helena's story tells you why you ought NOT to put all your eggs in one basket, particularly if that basket is a man.
It starts of like a typical Mills & Boon story – with blonde English Helena, a beautiful 18 year old naïve country girl who falls instantly in love with the tall, very dark handsome Roman, an exotic charismatic Italian Chilean romantic wanderer. They marry and move to Chile, where (anyone would have guessed) Helena depends on him heavily and becomes needy (so far from home, away from her friends and family and so foreign – what did he expect??). This neediness begins to permeate her character until she's becomes contemptible. Roman's response is to wander off to far parts of the world despite his responsibly to this needy woman he dumped in Chile and his children.
He becomes an absent father who indirectly blames his wife for why his son Hal didn't feel a deep affection for him like his daughter Frederica. Frederica loves her father unconditionally (blind hero-worship manifests itself throughout the novel with other characters too), with very little effort on his part
Ramon's story just becomes silly after that. Its obvious that where he must make an effort to obtain love he loses interest and wanders off i.e his son Hal. If Helena was a career woman he would most likely have had a more successful marriage, but then he'd most likely feel threatened by her career – he's that sort of despicable weak character.
The most pathetic part of the book is that he falls for a maid (and although he hides her away for most of their relationship) he tries to convince himself that its true love. Its more likely the illicit and informal nature of the relationship that kept him happy, not love. I have nothing against “household help”, but it takes a contemptible creature to play around with his family's household help, particularly when your children are in the house and your still married (even if its a bad marriage). If you must be unfaithful – how about a little further away from home?
And then he tries to convince us that he loves this maid because she offers him unconditional love. That equates to her being a doormat - men in the real world take women like that for granted. And its unconvincing that a educated learned man would find a maid interesting for long other than in the psychical sense. This is not a spoiler as Roman and his lusty pursuits are only a minor subplot.
The Supporting Characters
Apart from the despicable Roman – the remaining characters, particularly Nuno, are delightful. The entire Appleby family are an excellent bunch (and make up for the tiresome parts). Sam is a good strong intelligent type. Not a clichéd dark dashingly rich handsome type from Mills & Boon but a real person without the fairytale qualities, but all the strong admirable traits that make you thin- AT LAST – after a surfeit of Roman the cliché types!
I say read this story as a very LIGHT reading because otherwise it'll only annoy you, particularly the way Roman is forgiven so easily in this book (which resembles more like indifference than love).
Ramon Campione Story
The plot totally lost integrity for me due to the sexist, irritating, weak, condescending creep that is Ramon Campione (the principal protagonist's father). He was an unmitigated diaster - the most selfish, pathetic weak loathsome being whom I felt utter disgust. Furthermore, who possessed the utter audacity to justify his weakness and utter immorality behind the most shallow arguments to convince the readers why he was a terrible absentee father and husband i.e. blaming his wife (a feeble minded creature called Helena).
I'm not a vindictive person, however, if Roman had received his just desserts than I would have felt satisfied with the ending. However, this book was a treatise to his utter nonsense.
Every feminist will be insulted by Ramon Campione and Helena's story. Its an affront to women's lib. The age old burden of blaming a woman for a man's weakness. I appreciate Helena has some culpability in the events that took place, however, considering the circumstances, Ramon is seriously a horrid piece of work hiding behind an affable exterior and a misguided philosophy.
Helana's story is rather tragic in a pathetic way. She's a feeble minded bimbo of a character, however, she did not deserve her fate. Perhaps if she had not married so young and had learned more from life she would have been a better person. All I can say is – thank God for career women. Helena's story tells you why you ought NOT to put all your eggs in one basket, particularly if that basket is a man.
It starts of like a typical Mills & Boon story – with blonde English Helena, a beautiful 18 year old naïve country girl who falls instantly in love with the tall, very dark handsome Roman, an exotic charismatic Italian Chilean romantic wanderer. They marry and move to Chile, where (anyone would have guessed) Helena depends on him heavily and becomes needy (so far from home, away from her friends and family and so foreign – what did he expect??). This neediness begins to permeate her character until she's becomes contemptible. Roman's response is to wander off to far parts of the world despite his responsibly to this needy woman he dumped in Chile and his children.
He becomes an absent father who indirectly blames his wife for why his son Hal didn't feel a deep affection for him like his daughter Frederica. Frederica loves her father unconditionally (blind hero-worship manifests itself throughout the novel with other characters too), with very little effort on his part
Ramon's story just becomes silly after that. Its obvious that where he must make an effort to obtain love he loses interest and wanders off i.e his son Hal. If Helena was a career woman he would most likely have had a more successful marriage, but then he'd most likely feel threatened by her career – he's that sort of despicable weak character.
The most pathetic part of the book is that he falls for a maid (and although he hides her away for most of their relationship) he tries to convince himself that its true love. Its more likely the illicit and informal nature of the relationship that kept him happy, not love. I have nothing against “household help”, but it takes a contemptible creature to play around with his family's household help, particularly when your children are in the house and your still married (even if its a bad marriage). If you must be unfaithful – how about a little further away from home?
And then he tries to convince us that he loves this maid because she offers him unconditional love. That equates to her being a doormat - men in the real world take women like that for granted. And its unconvincing that a educated learned man would find a maid interesting for long other than in the psychical sense. This is not a spoiler as Roman and his lusty pursuits are only a minor subplot.
The Supporting Characters
Apart from the despicable Roman – the remaining characters, particularly Nuno, are delightful. The entire Appleby family are an excellent bunch (and make up for the tiresome parts). Sam is a good strong intelligent type. Not a clichéd dark dashingly rich handsome type from Mills & Boon but a real person without the fairytale qualities, but all the strong admirable traits that make you thin- AT LAST – after a surfeit of Roman the cliché types!
I say read this story as a very LIGHT reading because otherwise it'll only annoy you, particularly the way Roman is forgiven so easily in this book (which resembles more like indifference than love).
August 24, 2015
Goddamnit!, she did it again. She wrote this romance that I read in three hours, because it was so bad and I was so bored to do anything else but breathe, eat and read, and still it was NOT passionately written and deeply felt, how she wrote on her page. ''The Butterfly Box is an epic saga of love, possession and metamorphosis.'' Where can that be found in this romance, please point those pages. I'll borrow you my cursor, here you are --> ... See, you can’t, because it’s NON-EXISTENT!
October 31, 2018
Superbly written story. The characters are so easy to connect with, to fall in love with. Perfect holiday reading.
November 9, 2020
Literally the worst book I have ever read. It’s like Santa M. has never met an actual human being before. The male characters are ridiculous caricatures and the women are all so pathetic. There is no nuance or complexity to anyone in this book. The worst bit though is the weird almost paedophilic part where the main character who is 7 develops a crush on a 15 year old. 7 year olds with romantic feelings is a little weird but we are told the older bar tee doesn’t notice her as she’s too young. Bloody too right!! This book is just complete trash. Don’t buy it.
May 10, 2012
Absolutely love this book! I could read it over and over again.
The characters are so easy to connect with, to fall in love with. Especially the Appleby family.
I really enjoyed the variety of settings, I feel like I could visit these places and recognize the hills, the shoreline, the yappy dog down the road.
An all-time favourite.
The characters are so easy to connect with, to fall in love with. Especially the Appleby family.
I really enjoyed the variety of settings, I feel like I could visit these places and recognize the hills, the shoreline, the yappy dog down the road.
An all-time favourite.
October 7, 2010
This wasn't a bad book. Lots of melodrama in it which I found over the top. A bit of a classic 'what did I learn after it was too late' kind of book - those annoy me - so probably why I didn't enjoy it as much as others will.
February 9, 2020
“Cuando brille el sol y sientas su calor en tu cuerpo, ahí estará el amor de papá.”
“La caja de la mariposa”, es la historia de Fede, quien te cuenta cómo va creciendo desde Chile hasta Inglaterra, ya que sus padres se divorcian. En el libro puedes encontrar muchas cosas que de la vida diaria, que te permite identificarte: experimentar celos, el amor de la familia, el desamor, la pertenencia y dependencia en las parejas, el sexo, la idolatría, la desintegración familiar, la soledad, los amores platónicos.
“La caja de la mariposa” es un libro que te hace reflexionar las diferentes formas en que se puede amar y llevar las relaciones. Al principio me pareció excesivamente largo y explicativo, pero todo tiene una razón, y a medida que uno se adentra en toda una saga familiar y en sus relaciones, la piezas encajan y todo tiene sentido.
Vale la pena leerlo!
100% recomendado
“La caja de la mariposa”, es la historia de Fede, quien te cuenta cómo va creciendo desde Chile hasta Inglaterra, ya que sus padres se divorcian. En el libro puedes encontrar muchas cosas que de la vida diaria, que te permite identificarte: experimentar celos, el amor de la familia, el desamor, la pertenencia y dependencia en las parejas, el sexo, la idolatría, la desintegración familiar, la soledad, los amores platónicos.
“La caja de la mariposa” es un libro que te hace reflexionar las diferentes formas en que se puede amar y llevar las relaciones. Al principio me pareció excesivamente largo y explicativo, pero todo tiene una razón, y a medida que uno se adentra en toda una saga familiar y en sus relaciones, la piezas encajan y todo tiene sentido.
Vale la pena leerlo!
100% recomendado
July 20, 2018
Full of shallow self obsessed charcters apart from Nuno,the saving grace.
May 10, 2021
I don't think this has aged well.
November 20, 2021
5/5⭐
"El amor no es algo que podamos abrir y cerrar como un grifo. No es posible".
Este libro ha sido hermoso leerlo pero he sufrido. Siento que de las varias novelas que Santa escribió, ésta es la más larga y completa porque arranca con Federica Campione nuestra protagonista ya que en ella se centra la autora que va desde los 6 años de edad y finaliza con ella ya siendo una adulta, más de 22 años. La caja de la mariposa es un libro lleno de magia, pasión, amor y fortaleza.
La historia está estructurada en tres partes con 45 capítulos y parte desde la infancia de Fede en tierras chilenas atravezado la partida a Inglaterra porque sus padres Helena y Ramon se separan. Helena su madre es inglesa, Ramon su padre un chileno de espititu libre que no soporta estar casado, necesita viajar y documentarse para sus artículos de National Geographic. Y sólo está unas pocas semanas con su esposa y sus dos hijos, Fede y Hal por lo que es un padre ausente. Allí en Inglaterra Federica conocerá a la familia Appleby y se enamorará de Sam Appleby, hermano de su mejor amiga pero es un amor platónico porque Fede, al separarse de su papá (al cual adora como su fuese Dios y es tan perfecto a sus ojos que no puede equivocarse ) no hace más que buscarlo en los hombres (no necesariamente amantes) que conoce a lo largo de su vida.
Es un libro con el que me identifiqué con ésa busqueda de la figura paterna. Entendí tanto a Fede y sufrí mucho con ella. La sinopsis es engañosa porque en realidad se cuentan muchas cosas, aparecen muchos personajes como Toby el hermano de Helena y tío de Fede que junto con su pareja Javier son auténticos papás para nuestra protagonista. Y si, aca se toca el tema de la homosexualidad nada facil de aceptar en algunos personajes. Tambien aparecen los abuelos paternos y maternos de Fede, Torquil, personaje que feo porque lo único que hace es manipularla y moldearla hasta convertirla en un sumiso peón; Y seremos testigos de la infelicidad que vive Fede al lado de él con una caja de mariposa la cual es regalo de su padre y acarrea una leyenda preciosa que será parte de la vida de nuestra protagonista porque acompañará a Federica a medida que va creciendo hasta convertirse en una mujer joven, y nos unimos a ella en su viaje por la vida, los amores, las dificultades y el tormentosa..
Una vez más la prosa de Montefiore me enamoró porque hace unas descripciones increíbles de Chile y de Cornualles que es como estar allí. La caja de la mariposa es más que una historia de amor porque la autora nos muestra cómo a veces los padres no toman en cuenta sus acciones y decisiones que toman y cómo éstas afectan en sus hijos a lo largo de su crecimiento como se verá muy fuerte en Fede y luego en Hal. Se me humedecían los ojos en algunas escenas donde Federica recibe notas sorpresas creyendo que son de su padre y en realidad no lo son, o imaginar que su padre estuvo en Inglaterra pero no pudo visitarla. Se me desgarró el corazón, incluso con un Hal adolescente cuya vida le salvó la hermana por la simple ausencia de la figura paterna.
La caja de la mariposa es un libro de 588 páginas y tiene una razón para ser tan largo pero en ningún momento decae. Es más, la autora maneja muy bien algunos temas muy duros como la violencia de género y es muy cuidadosa para narrarlos porque como es una desgracia que se mete de forma silenciosa y disfrazada de mucho dinero, roja lujosa, alejamiento de las amigas y la familia, etc etc, la va ahogando a nuestra protagonista y ella no se da cuenta hasta cierto punto,.
Recomiendo que lo lean para no solo disfrutar del amor y la prosa dulce de la autora sino acompañar a nuestros personajes que nos mostrarán temas como la amistad, la pérdida, las ausencias y la toxicidad -ahogo- de algunos personajes sobre otros.
"El amor no es algo que podamos abrir y cerrar como un grifo. No es posible".
Este libro ha sido hermoso leerlo pero he sufrido. Siento que de las varias novelas que Santa escribió, ésta es la más larga y completa porque arranca con Federica Campione nuestra protagonista ya que en ella se centra la autora que va desde los 6 años de edad y finaliza con ella ya siendo una adulta, más de 22 años. La caja de la mariposa es un libro lleno de magia, pasión, amor y fortaleza.
La historia está estructurada en tres partes con 45 capítulos y parte desde la infancia de Fede en tierras chilenas atravezado la partida a Inglaterra porque sus padres Helena y Ramon se separan. Helena su madre es inglesa, Ramon su padre un chileno de espititu libre que no soporta estar casado, necesita viajar y documentarse para sus artículos de National Geographic. Y sólo está unas pocas semanas con su esposa y sus dos hijos, Fede y Hal por lo que es un padre ausente. Allí en Inglaterra Federica conocerá a la familia Appleby y se enamorará de Sam Appleby, hermano de su mejor amiga pero es un amor platónico porque Fede, al separarse de su papá (al cual adora como su fuese Dios y es tan perfecto a sus ojos que no puede equivocarse ) no hace más que buscarlo en los hombres (no necesariamente amantes) que conoce a lo largo de su vida.
Es un libro con el que me identifiqué con ésa busqueda de la figura paterna. Entendí tanto a Fede y sufrí mucho con ella. La sinopsis es engañosa porque en realidad se cuentan muchas cosas, aparecen muchos personajes como Toby el hermano de Helena y tío de Fede que junto con su pareja Javier son auténticos papás para nuestra protagonista. Y si, aca se toca el tema de la homosexualidad nada facil de aceptar en algunos personajes. Tambien aparecen los abuelos paternos y maternos de Fede, Torquil, personaje que feo porque lo único que hace es manipularla y moldearla hasta convertirla en un sumiso peón; Y seremos testigos de la infelicidad que vive Fede al lado de él con una caja de mariposa la cual es regalo de su padre y acarrea una leyenda preciosa que será parte de la vida de nuestra protagonista porque acompañará a Federica a medida que va creciendo hasta convertirse en una mujer joven, y nos unimos a ella en su viaje por la vida, los amores, las dificultades y el tormentosa..
Una vez más la prosa de Montefiore me enamoró porque hace unas descripciones increíbles de Chile y de Cornualles que es como estar allí. La caja de la mariposa es más que una historia de amor porque la autora nos muestra cómo a veces los padres no toman en cuenta sus acciones y decisiones que toman y cómo éstas afectan en sus hijos a lo largo de su crecimiento como se verá muy fuerte en Fede y luego en Hal. Se me humedecían los ojos en algunas escenas donde Federica recibe notas sorpresas creyendo que son de su padre y en realidad no lo son, o imaginar que su padre estuvo en Inglaterra pero no pudo visitarla. Se me desgarró el corazón, incluso con un Hal adolescente cuya vida le salvó la hermana por la simple ausencia de la figura paterna.
La caja de la mariposa es un libro de 588 páginas y tiene una razón para ser tan largo pero en ningún momento decae. Es más, la autora maneja muy bien algunos temas muy duros como la violencia de género y es muy cuidadosa para narrarlos porque como es una desgracia que se mete de forma silenciosa y disfrazada de mucho dinero, roja lujosa, alejamiento de las amigas y la familia, etc etc, la va ahogando a nuestra protagonista y ella no se da cuenta hasta cierto punto,.
Recomiendo que lo lean para no solo disfrutar del amor y la prosa dulce de la autora sino acompañar a nuestros personajes que nos mostrarán temas como la amistad, la pérdida, las ausencias y la toxicidad -ahogo- de algunos personajes sobre otros.
February 1, 2021
This book sent me on an incredible journey and the characters were so well written. For example, one of the characters (Sam Appleby) was extremely punchable when he let Federica go and she married another man. However when he saw her going down the aisle in the white dress and felt a pang of jealousy, I instantly felt so sorry for him and I felt this urge to throw the book across the room. Obviously, I didn’t do that because I wanted to know what would happen and the ending was one of the best I’ve read in a long time. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling and I hope this book has the same effect on other readers!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2013
This book made a big impression on me, reading this in my teens. I just loved its characters and that it followed the families and of course Federica's life. Whilst reading it was as though you grew up with the characters and you felt like you knew them well. It certainly encouraged me to seek more by this author, as well as encourage desires to travel. Very easy to read, enjoyed the setting both the Cornish coast and also Chile. It is every bit the saga it is described. Feel that this will stick with me and would definitely recommend it to others.
June 13, 2013
Really enjoyed the depth of background to this story. Instead of it simply circling around Federica and her life, Montefiore really built upon the lives of many other characters within her life. The only downfall I felt was the end. There had been so much description throughout about the rest of Federica's life and other aspects, that when it came to the end, I felt it was more of a quick conclusion rather than a meaningful ending.
May 5, 2018
Heerlijke vakantielectuur - of als het geen vakantie is, om bij weg te dromen naar de volgende vakantie.
July 17, 2022
Haat-liefdeverhouding met dit boek
May 21, 2025
Pretty good read, nearly a 5! Loved the characters and the split between story lines in Cornwall and Chile!
October 19, 2018
3.5 stars maybe? There was barely one relationship in this book that had an appropriate age gap, and the narrative never once tried to portray them as the creepy barely legal bullshit a lot of them were. Also Helena at 18 not knowing where Chile was? And "you could be a cannibal since you're from some foreign country"? The sympathy we were apparently supposed to feel for Ramon was beyond ridiculous. Despite all of that, the plot was still engaging enough to finish it.
February 23, 2014
hmmm I'm really not sure...I kept picking it up and putting it down with long gaps in between. I found the ending a little too good to be true but the main characters of Sam, Ramon, Helena and Fede were well observed sides of a whole person in love. the selfish love, the claustrophobic love, innocent love and pure honest love were all wrapped up in over the top but well written characters. it took a long time to get going and then kinda hurtled towards happy endings for all.
July 18, 2021
Thank goodness to get to the end of this tedious and pointless book. In the hands of a writer, the story itself could have been quite good, with potentially a good range of characters and interesting places. Unfortunately however this author's writing is both weak and pretentious to the point where it becomes ridiculous - firm breasts like freshly whipped egg-whites is one example that I'm trying hard to forget. Don't bother with it.
July 26, 2021
Audiobook. Quite a good story but it reads like the author has a thesaurus open at 'said' and is carefully making her way through them all - cried, giggled, expostulated, blurted, explained... once you've noticed that it's hard to ignore.
May 31, 2022
Really enjoyed this book, extremely gripping romance book. A lovely holiday read.
Read
September 16, 2024Loved this 💕
July 30, 2025
Vrij voorspelbaar,maar mooi boek.😊
April 1, 2021
I'd had this book for a number of years and decided to read it now as having finished the book about Japan which required concentration, I wanted something undemanding. It certainly was an easy read and quite enjoyable. It was set in Chile and Cornwall. The central character Federica is six at the start of the book. She relocates with her mother Helena and younger brother Hal to Polperro when Helena decides to leave Ramon, her charismatic but unreliable husband and live with her parents in Cornwall. Fede adjusts to her new life, makes friends with a local family and eventually moves to London where she meets a rich man called Torquil and gets married. During this time Ramon her adored father has been absent from her life. Escaping from her controlling husband she returns to Chile at the end of the book to try to reconnect with her father. I thought that Fede was a likeable character who had a tough time, separated from Ramon at an early age and having to adjust to a new life in a different country. Her mother Helena (a deeply irritating character) neglected her and lavished all her love on Hal (because he reminded her of Ramon, whom she still loves). When Helena remarries Fede moves in with her uncle Toby and his partner Julian who do a much better job bringing her up. I got very annoyed with Helena. I don't think the author liked her either! She was very selfish and needy and at the beginning of the book just drifted about the house chain smoking and leaving poor Fede to do all the chores. Arthur, her second husband, was a saint to put up with her! Fede has a crush from an early age on Sam, the older brother of her best friend Hester, and he is kind to her. At her 16th birthday party they spend the night talking and Sam gives Fede her first kiss. This is in total contrast to teenage Sam who seduces Bea the nanny. He is under age and it was a very inappropriate relationship. Curiously we never find out how their relationship ends or what happens to Bea. I couldn't see the point of this episode and I couldn't relate the adult Sam to this sex-obsessed teenager at all. I also couldn't understand why Torquil married Fede - he seemed just to want a trophy wife and to carry on having affairs with other women of his social standing. Torquil was one of many characters that lacked depth. Ramon definitely caused heartache to many people - Fede who loved him, Hal whom he neglected and Helena who made too many demands on him. Definitely a fractured family who only find peace at the end of the book. This author has been compared to Rosamund Pilcher - I think the latter is a far better writer - I definitely find her characters more believable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2025
It didn't take me long to read this book,I couldn't stop picking it up, 'just one more chapter '.
One of my favourite authors and this one was really enjoyable.
More than one love story going on & the main character Federica was easy to relate with.
I have read other reviews that have hated it saying they didn't like this character or that character 🤔 ,well if you liked all the characters it would be a boring book!
Each to their own but I liked it.
One of my favourite authors and this one was really enjoyable.
More than one love story going on & the main character Federica was easy to relate with.
I have read other reviews that have hated it saying they didn't like this character or that character 🤔 ,well if you liked all the characters it would be a boring book!
Each to their own but I liked it.
July 22, 2021
Well, I think this is by far my favourite Santa Montefiore book yet. I couldn’t put it down. Whenever I had a few quiet moments, I would sit down to read it. It spans a few decades. A love story for sure but it also shows how choices really make the difference in life and love. I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a good love story.
June 8, 2022
czy ja muszę coś tu pisać. no poprostu cudo, uwielbiam. chwyciła mnie za serce, pokazała mi jaki ma wpływ dzieciństwo na nasze życie, jak człowiek może się pogubić w życiu, że jest wyjście z trudnych sytuacji i wszystko jakoś się ułoży. było tu wiele smutku, goryczy, rozpaczy, złości, rozczarowania, ale i były momenty gdzie człowieka uszczęśliwiała radość bohaterów i ich dość ciekawy styl życie. KOCHAM. ta książka zostanie ze mną dłużej
March 21, 2021
If you want a holiday book that requires no thought or imagination on your part, this might be for you.
I struggled to be drawn in as none of the characters were particularly three dimensional and I didn't care enough about them. I only didn't give up as it is our bookclub choice for this month.
I struggled to be drawn in as none of the characters were particularly three dimensional and I didn't care enough about them. I only didn't give up as it is our bookclub choice for this month.
November 23, 2020
Another really enjoyable story
January 13, 2023
This book was beautiful and I urge you to read it!! I the journey of love, longing, and growth kept me gripped throughout, and the way it was written was amazing. I’m only giving it 4 instead of 5 because at 600 pages it was longer than it needed to be and started quite slow, but other than that I can’t fault it.
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