Italy Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books

Every Time We Say Goodbye

Catherine — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 07:34:30 +0000

I loved both of the novels in the Jane Austen series by Natalie Jenner so was delighted to learn it’s a trilogy with the third book newly released. Every Time We Say Goodbye follows the indomitable Vivien, the writer and intimidating brunette who was introduced in The Bloomsbury Girls. World War II has finally ended […]

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The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Catherine — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 07:33:40 +0000

I adored Maggie O’Farrell’s last novel, Hamnet. She returns, with another novel set in the 1500s, but in Italy this time. The Marriage Portrait is about a young Italian princess and bride, Lucrezia of the famous Medici family, known for its support of key artists and scientists of the Renaissance. The Marriage Portrait is both […]

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One Italian Summer

Catherine — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 05:24:45 +0000

When Katy’s mother Carol dies, she is consumed with grief. Not only was her mother her best friend, but they had planned a trip of special importance. A month in Positano, Italy a place Carol visited decades ago in the summer before she met her husband and began the life Katy knows. Carol made all […]

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Summer Thrillers: Mini-Reviews

Catherine — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 04:03:01 +0000

Summer is a great time for thrillers. Hot weather, vacation, and short attention spans are all made for engaging reading that moves fast. Of course, my expectations are higher, because humidity makes me cranky and we have plenty of it in Michigan. For that reason, I’m a picky reader right now so take these reviews […]

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July Reading Wrap-Up

Catherine — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 04:16:48 +0000

Goodbye, July! My first full month of real summer in the Midwest. What I loved: fireflies, thunder and rain storms that last for hours. What is not so much: humidity that flattens me but makes my hair explode. And flies. So many flies! Why? The natural world aside, even with the increasing crazy that […]

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The Chef’s Secret by Crystal King

Catherine — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 08:59:49 +0000

Giovanni’s uncle, Bartolomeo Scappi, was a celebrity in Rome. He was the private chef to three popes and the author of a wildly popular cookbook. Now he is dead and Giovanni’s life is about to turn upside down. He had been his uncle’s apprentice for 11 years and had known the man as a father […]

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Where’s an Editor When You Need One?: Mini-Reviews

Catherine — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 07:08:27 +0000

We’ve all read novels by authors who have a way with words, know how to shape a sentence, generate tension…all the good stuff, right? But what about when that good stuff keeps going and going until what felt like a perfect balance turns into words and plot piling on unchecked? I’m left either annoyed […]

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Feast of Sorrow: A Novel of Ancient Rome

Catherine — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 07:02:03 +0000

One of the grandest things that can happen to a reader is coming across a book with a new perspective on a subject they’ve read about extensively. Recently, I read Crystal King’s Feast of Sorrow, a novel about Italy in the time of Caesar Tiberius, because, hello, I read all of the Colleen McCullough Masters […]

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In the Name of the Family

Catherine — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 07:16:34 +0000

Apparently, all roads do lead to Rome—at least in my March historical fiction reading so far! On Monday, I reviewed The Confessions of Young Nero and today I’m jumping forward 1,400 years with Sarah Dunant’s new novel about the Borgia family. In the Name of the Family opens with the scandal soaked Borgias firmly […]

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The Confessions of Young Nero

Catherine — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 07:47:07 +0000

Who hasn’t heard some version of the phrase “Nero fiddled while Rome burned”? It’s long been the standard epitaph for any ruler so decadent and foolish that they were more interested in entertaining and enriching themselves than running a country. Hhhhmmm. Current similarities aside, Margaret George decides to investigate the life of Emperor Nero […]

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