Title: Escape to Florence by Kat Devereaux
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary, Historical (’40s)
Length: 270 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher
Summary:
Moving between the Second World War and the present, an exhilarating debut novel in the vein of Jennifer Robson, Kate Quinn, and Natasha Lester, about two women, decades apart, whose fates converge in Florence, Italy.
Only fourteen, Stella Infuriati is the youngest member of her town’s resistance network during World War II. Risking torture and death, she relays messages, supplies, and weapons to partisan groups in the Tuscan hills. Her parents have no idea, consumed instead by love and fear for their beloved son, Achille, a courier and unofficial mechanic for a communist partisan brigade.
Then, after 1945, Stella seemingly vanishes from the records. Her name and story are overshadowed by the tragic death of her brother—until a young writer arrives in Tuscany in the spring of 2019, uncovering long-buried secrets.
Fleeing an emotionally abusive marriage and a lonely life on an isolated estate, Tori MacNair has come to Florence, the beautiful city her grandmother taught her to love, to build a new life. As she digs into her family history with the help of Marco, a handsome lawyer, Tori starts to uncover secrets of the past—truths that stretch back decades, to a young woman who risked everything to save her world . . .
Review:
Escape to Florence by Kat Devereaux is an engaging debut that seamlessly moves back and forth between the present day and World War II.
In the past, Stella Infuriati is part of the resistance in her small Italian town along with her brother, Achille. She keeps her activities hidden from everyone including her parents. After the war’s end, Stella’s disappearance remains unsolved.
In the present, Tori MacNair returns to Florence where she spent many happy vacations with her beloved grandmother. She is also in the midst of a divorce and working a book. During her research, Tori has discovered an unexpected mystery about her grandmother’s time in Italy.
Tori and the other people she meets in Italy are very likable characters. However, her mother, sister and her soon to be ex-husband are absolutely insufferable. Tori has become a pushover who avoids conflict and she is a little quick to forgive.
Escape to Florence is an engrossing novel with a lovely setting. The Italian towns spring vividly to life in the past and the present. Stella’s story arc is incredibly fascinating as is Tori’s search for her grandmother’s connection to Italy. Kat Devereaux brings to intriguing novel to a wonderful conclusion.
