Secrets of Sant'Angelo

by Jeff Shapiro

The inhabitants of Sant'Angelo D'Asso, a small Italian village tormented by a series of misfortunes--endless rain, an influenza epidemic, and a series of bizarre deaths--are given new hope and faith by the arrival of two mysterious newcomers, Rosa Spina Innocenti and her son Emanuelle Mosè, but the arrival of another stranger could destroy everything.

Genres: Fiction, Italy

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A realistic (mostly) and earthy narrative style relates a fairy-tale tinged plot. Strange things have been happening in Sant Angelo. There have been too many mysterious accidents and other deaths. Animals are behaving strangely. Into this atmosphere comes a mysterious woman and her two sons. One presents himself as a man of god who can heal what ails you. The other is an amiable working man, recently released from prison. The mother dresses and behaves provocatively while talking in a girlish voice about her pure motives. The book builds to an exploration of the duality of all our natures and motives, for example the selfish childishness at odds with a person's more adult generosity. The presence of this odd family gives an ominous feel to the story as their intentions come under closer scrutiny. More accidents occur, and the town turns on its one Jewish citizen. When a positive reference to Mussolini was made half way into the book, I was taken aback. This book also contained one of my favorite recent lines, "I was a virgin, you understand. Practically a virgin." Also these words of wisdom when a scam artist takes advantage of a local resident: "And he got to you exactly the right way, by making you feel that you and he were on the same side." Apropos of our Current Situation? And this: there are two kinds of people "There are the mythmakers and the truth seekers." True?

[liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I started this book, I was afraid it would take itself too seriously. After all, novels about the social workings of small Tuscan towns have become pretty cliched by this point. But I liked the beginning, and was intrigued by the fact that it's about "bad luck." It delivered. There were a lot of good psychological portraits, the author never got too caught up in his own skills. I liked the fact that there were some ambiguities about the characters that were never cleared up, but enough resolutions that the ending wasn't completely disappointing (after all, life is like that). I don't want to give away too much on the off chance that you someday read it, but suffice to say that it's about a town getting hit by a spate of bad luck. Mother/son drifters come through, with the mother convinced that her son was produced by immaculate conception and is some sort of modern messiah. Oh, the manipulation, the faith... All in all, it's pretty good.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this book 2.5 stars if I could. There were things I enjoyed about it, but I never reached a point at which I just had to keep reading. There were so many characters in this book that it became cumbersome. I felt that I should be taking notes sometimes to help me remember who's who. I know that twice while I was reading it I found it on my nightstand and thought, "Oh yeah, I forgot that I was in the middle of this book." I did finally finish it, but it was rather slow until the pace picked up towards the very end.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having driven around this part of Tuscany, d'Asso rang a bell. (It is a large creek between Montalcino and San Querico d'Orcia that runs into the Orcia River.) While perhaps not of great depth, the inner life of the characters is a good study, and the twist to resolve some of the tension created mid-book echos a mystery format. A good book for a snowy afternoon and a bottle of brunello.

[Nat Marchica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is kind of part 2 to the book Renato's luck which predominately why I read it. It s a cute book in that once again the scenery is beautiful and the people are all common folks. Sounds like many small towns I know of in Italy frankly that I can relate to.

Strangers come into town and this has everyone talking more than usual about who they are. It takes you on some ups and down and turns, but, it is an easy read on a summer night or day. Nothing brain storming hear nor really anything to get your blood rushing.

Nice little twist at the end that I was not expecting which i had appreciated and reason for 3 star.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

First read many years ago, pre-Goodreads.
On this re-read it struck me how much like a Facebook troll this mother, Rosa Spina is. A few remarks made and then she sat back and watched the townspeople divide and turn on each other. Jealousy, greed, anger, bigotry and fear swirled all around, while she watched on in delight.
While I did not like the character of Rosa Spina, I did enjoy the twists and turns in this story, and I did feel very sorry for the son.

[Sue King · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A small town in Italy is plagued by bad luck. Then visitors arrive: a mother and her adult son and some things appear to be better but others not so much. The brother’s twin arrives and some in town are impressed by his intellect as opposed to his brother’s healing powers. Overall a decent story but there were a lot of characters to track and a little too much detail in stretches of the book.

[Angela Rossillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy moly! That caught me off guard! This book left me wondering what was happening to the characters when I wasn’t reading it. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Dennis P Moore · Rating 1 out of 5]

3.

[Flora Pang]

100 pages in nothing has really happened? A lot of conversation and a lot of unnecessary characters that make it hard to really grasp reality because it's not that thoroughly developed. Wrapped up in mystery which i guess is a main theme but still. Good enough to continue reading and to uncover the mystery thou.

150 pages now, i feel like its trying to build suspense, but failing because its not saying anything at all. I have no clue what we are even building towards, what even the plot is of the book? But its not character driven either because we don't follow anyone in particular.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, this book seemed to fall between two stools. Did the author want to write a comic novel or an allegorical one? He tried to merge the themes and almost carried it off but not quite.
Two strangers arrive in a small town in Tuscany. Are they who they seem? If not, who are they really? Intrigued? I was interested in finding out more so I read on but found that the 'mystery' wasn't so much of a mystery after all. Why then did it take over 400 pages to get to the point?
For me, the best part of this story is the wonderful cast of characters created by Jeff Shapiro, there are some good comic touches but the book is way too long and the religious allegory is done with a heavy hand.

[Jennifer Hughes · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the description this sounds like just the kind of book I would like, but I didn't really care for it. Try Miracles of Santo Fico if you need a Tuscan-fiction fix. It was much better. I just don't want to waste any more of my time on this book by reviewing it.

Be advised if you decide read it that you will emerge being able to proficiently curse bilingually and have to wade through sex scenes, including infidelity.

[Susie Chocolate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light Summer read lent to me by my avid book reading neighbor. Story takes place during one particularly cold Winter in a small Tuscan village in rural Italy in a time period that is not very clear but seems to be at least 50 yrs back. Great character build up of the townspeople and the bout of misfortune that hits the town but the fortunes of the town seems to change when two strangers, a mother and her mysterious highly religious son arrive one day off the train.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really the sort of book I would seek out, but my dad liked it, so I gave it a go. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The little Italian town in the story is dealing with sort of an angel on the right, devil on the left dichotomy of conscience, though it is not always clear which is which.

[Cindy Bravo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was s delightful story of a small Italian town and its colorful people. Adding to the plot line of old age, youth and romance is the addition of mysterious visitors and the "twist of the twin." This book has a prequel that I would be interested in exploring.

[Jeffery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book,it's an interesting story with a few twists...

[Ann Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Set outside Siena, really well-written. Memorable characters. Lots of Italian "asides".

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story set in a small Italian village. The characters are interesting, some a little farfetched, but that only makes things better. A nice portrayal of Italian life and culture.

[Steve Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Set in a small town in Tuscany beset by bad luck, until a beautiful woman and her twin sons mysteriously arrive in town.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the setting, the characters, the thread of luck/logic/faith, and the mystery.