It is always fun when you come upon a book that you haven’t heard or read about, and it turns out to be a winner. In my opinion, “Villa Triste” by Lucretia Grindle, on a scale of 1 to 10, scores a solid 9. Set in present-day Florence, Italy, it centers around the deaths of three men who were heroes of the Italian resistance during World War II. The story alternates between the investigation of these murders and the lives of a family in Florence during the war.
Grindle vividly portrays what it was like to live in Italy during the war. The deprivation, danger and sacrifices made by the Italian people, especially those who were partisans, forms the historical backdrop of this story. Two sisters, one a nurse and the other a student, become deeply invovled in spying on the Germans and helping Allied soldiers and Jewish families eescape. Their lives are changed forever by their actions.
This is definitely a page turner. The author keeps you guessing about the murders of the three men and what eventually happens to the sisters. The mystery component could almost stand alone, but coupled with the historical context of the story, it makes “Villa Triste” a double winner.