Within the Walled City

by Virginia Evans

Lily Dunn died seventeen years ago, and the small family that she left behind has buried her memory along with their pain. When her twenty-six-year-old daughter Jillian leaves for a semester in Siena, Italy to complete her Master’s in Art History, she comes upon an unexpected Lily’s handwritten journal, from a time when she too lived in Siena.Jillian’s months in Siena are marked by eccentric people, stunning scenery, a trove of exquisite art, and most of all, the enthralling and painful discovery of a mother she never knew and a world of secrets she can’t unlearn. The shadows of the past, the memories of an artist, will either crush or unfold her within the walled city.

Genres: Fiction, Italy, Literary Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary

342 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 2015

Reviews

[Kate Templeton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was written by a dear friend of mine and I'm so proud. Great narrative, character development and detailed descriptions of Siena. A wonderful debut novel from a talented writer.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Italy Oh Italy!

Wonderful read that takes place in Siena, IT. Good story line, rich, vibrant characters and great descriptions of Siena and her people.

[Morgan Stallings · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

One of the best I’ve read in a while! I fell in love with the characters and Italy too. Can’t wait for more Virginia Evans novels.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. What a difference a decade makes.. I read the recently published book “The Correspondent” and absolutely loved it. So I thought I would pick up her earlier novel which was written ten years ago. A totally different voice. Much less sophisticated than The Correspondent.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐ I really enjoyed the premise of this book and was excited to learn the true story of Jill's mother, Lily, who had passed away when Jill was young! There were times that this book was painstakingly slow and gave very few clues into Lily's life and so the plot often dragged!

I was fascinated to learn about the city of Siena in quite great detail and some overviews of other Italian cities! Visiting Italy sounds very romantic and a wealth of history, architecture, art, food and culture to explore! I would love to go there someday!

By the end of the story, I had pretty much guessed what was going to be revealed, although there were a few surprises! I was definitely wanting more as I read the ending, which can be what the author wants you to feel. Will Virginia Evans leave us to figure out the rest of the story for ourselves? Or will there be a sequel?

[Trisha Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

After 8 months trying to source this book the chances of it meeting my expectations were not even fair to begin with. The Corespondent still is my top book of 2026 and you see glimmers of that brilliance in this novel. The story itself is odd, almost three different stories that connect in a very clunky manner. Still thrilled I now own a copy and eagerly await the next book Ms. Evans writes.

[Sarah Seamans]

Bit slow - liked the ending when all tied together. Liked the description of Siena. Parts were a page turner and other parts not so much.

[Karyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sybil is a writer and through her letters befriends anyone. If only she was able to do that in real life. This book is a love letter to life, living past your regrets, and forgiving yourself as you dare to truly live. It’s a book of letters, and it will stay with you for a long time after you close the cover. The tears are still in my eyes from reading it. It was beautiful.

[Tina Culbertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting with the good things I will say the cover art is beautiful. The story mostly takes place in Siena Italy and the descriptions of architecture, interactions and food come alive. I could clearly picture the characters, the vibrant colors and conversations weren't stilted.

Jillian is the narrator, a college aged young woman focusing on art, planning a work study program in Italy. It must be noted Jillian and her father have a cool relationship and by that I mean civil after a huge falling out. As Jillian's mom Lily had cancer and died when Jillian was nine years old, she naturally had questions about her mother. Requests for info about her mother were usually stonewalled over the years and then, she finds a treasure trove of Lily's paintings hidden in the attic. Confrontation ensued.
Time passes....

Suddenly her father is encouraging her to accept the art study in Sienna over other Italian cities. Before leaving, he hands her Lily's journal, written when Lily was an art student in....you guessed it, Siena.

There are times this story was rather slow and others storylines about her roommates in Siena get mixed in but overall, I did like the book. It's a lovely armchair excursion to Tuscany where you'll love the foodie descriptions, a bit of romance and most of the loose ends get tied up neatly.

I was fortunate enough to purchase this book on Kindle shortly after reading The Correspondent (which I loved) but now it appears the book is unavailable in either Kindle or physical book format. The great success of The Correspondent must have inspired bookworms to seek out Evan's earlier book. Rating it a 3.75 and should probably round to 4 as I was never tempted to put it down. Just the ending seemed "too" tied up and improbable, in my humble opinion.

In my opinion the end was rushed and I thought the parties involved didn't handle it as real life circumstances would play out. So Jillian's father wasn't actually her biological father and the fact that her real Italian father figured out who she was very early on, just by seeing her at a market place is way out there. What a head trip for Jillian to get all that family connection info in one meeting with both "dads" present. But she could accept it and the end with her in a church...again seemed unlike her from the first 98% of the book.

Also, in Lily's journal she mentioned her good friend Jillian which tells you she liked her enough to name her daughter after her friend. But that was the only mention of Lily's friend...no writing about their time in art school or meeting up with friends or anything else. Seems like she would have had a story. Our author went into such detail about the Albanians and possible crime connections which really had zero bearing on the storyline, Jill's story about her mother and family.
There was a lot of territory covered, even a past relationship with a now successful rock star, meeting him again, and her feelings for her long term boyfriend home in the States.
So end of spoiler and my thoughts. That said, I will read another book by Virginia Evans as I think she is a marvelous storyteller.

[Karen Strumlak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was slow reading only because
Siena was introduced with great detail and beauty. This is a wonderful read following a young girl grow in life and learning about her mother. How great would it be to read about your mother as a young girl in her own journal. Great book!!