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The House of the Wind
The internationally bestselling author of "The Rose Labyrinth "returns with a love story of magic and healing about two women, centuries apart, who fight to make the world of their dreams a reality. San Francisco, 2007. Madeline Moretti is grieving her fiance's death. Nothing brings her joy anymore, and Maddie's grandmother, a fiery Italian, sends her to Tuscany to heal. H...more
Paperback, 528 pages
Published
October 27th 2011
by Headline Review
(first published February 1st 2011)
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This is a dual story jumping from the present in SF to the mid 1300 in Tuscany. In the present Maddie is a lawyer in the middle of a huge suit against a company that has allowed many people to become very sick in their factories and simultaneously her fianace is killed by a drunk driver. Her Grandmother sends her to Tuscany to stay with some friends who are renovating a marvelous estate. She finds friendship and passion for life again while there.
In the 1300s we are introduced to Maddie's ancest...more
In the 1300s we are introduced to Maddie's ancest...more
Oct 09, 2012
Kell
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2011,
reviewed-for-author-publisher
I really wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did. I adore historical fiction and I love the cleverness of concurrent storylines, centuries apart, having bearing on each other, but this just didn’t work for me.
The problem for me was that it was just too darned slow. Hardy uses achingly beautiful prose that absolutely sings off the page, but the plot unfolds at a maddeningly sedate pace, not just in one timeline, but in both. As a result, I grew bored with the characters, their loss, th...more
The problem for me was that it was just too darned slow. Hardy uses achingly beautiful prose that absolutely sings off the page, but the plot unfolds at a maddeningly sedate pace, not just in one timeline, but in both. As a result, I grew bored with the characters, their loss, th...more
It is really a good book!!!Though in the beginning i got little irritated at the way the story rocketed between the modern Maddie and timid Mia...lets say i was reading about Mia in one chapter and i was realy on pins and needle about the events taking place in her life but i got a bit annoyed with the author when i was catapulted into Maddie's life in the next chapter then again boomeranged back into Mia's life...but i think its a good idea...firstly we are forced to turn our pages to break the...more
The House of the Wind, by Titania Hardie, tells the story of two women, centuries apart, whose lives are woven together by the myth of the woman who walked away unscathed from the ruins of the Casa al Vento. Madeline Moretti (Maddie), a lawyer from San Francisco in 2007, is mourning the accidental death of her fiancé. Maria Maddalena (Mia), living in Tuscany in 1347, has seen her own mother killled in a brutal fashion. We learn how their future unfolds and how history binds them together in a ve...more
Looking for a different romance? The writer begins this book with a tragedy that will lead the reader to believe there will be constant action, but what follows is a little like a slow-moving creek. However, the author has a way of writing that will likely intrigue the reader to keep reading. A young girl in the 1300's desires to marry her love, but her parents attempt to force her to enter a convent. She finds herself with a sudden choice and a gust of wind that makes that choice for her. The r...more
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I have to say the writing was beautiful. This author definitely has a way with words. Although I enjoyed the story, which is actually told in two different time periods, I felt the story moved very slowly. That did not stop me from continuing on my reading journey.
The story starts out in the 1300’s with a young girl held prisoner in her own home for refusing to enter the convent. Instead she wants to marry a man she loves. The times dictate she must do as her parents say. On her last night of fr...more
The story starts out in the 1300’s with a young girl held prisoner in her own home for refusing to enter the convent. Instead she wants to marry a man she loves. The times dictate she must do as her parents say. On her last night of fr...more
Original review, with graphics
http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspo...
Hardie has an entrancing way of mixing fiction with mythology and history. The resulting work combines contemporary story telling with a small education in legend. This story takes a legend, put into verse by Keats ( see article at wikipedia.org The Eve of St. Agnes), and painted by Howard and mixes it up with today's world of lawsuits, power plays, love, travel, and family.As I am accustomed to fast moving genre fiction Hard...more
http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspo...
Hardie has an entrancing way of mixing fiction with mythology and history. The resulting work combines contemporary story telling with a small education in legend. This story takes a legend, put into verse by Keats ( see article at wikipedia.org The Eve of St. Agnes), and painted by Howard and mixes it up with today's world of lawsuits, power plays, love, travel, and family.As I am accustomed to fast moving genre fiction Hard...more
I really wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did. I adore historical fiction and I love the cleverness of concurrent storylines, centuries apart, having bearing on each other, but this just didn’t work for me.
The problem for me was that it was just too darned slow. Hardy uses achingly beautiful prose that absolutely sings off the page, but the plot unfolds at a maddeningly sedate pace, not just in one timeline, but in both. As a result, I grew bored with the characters, their loss, th...more
The problem for me was that it was just too darned slow. Hardy uses achingly beautiful prose that absolutely sings off the page, but the plot unfolds at a maddeningly sedate pace, not just in one timeline, but in both. As a result, I grew bored with the characters, their loss, th...more
Oct 29, 2011
Vivienne
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
lovers of historical fiction
Recommended to Vivienne by:
find books by title / author / isbn
I felt this was an excellent example of a novels in which contemporary and historical settings are interwoven. Sometimes such a mixing can be jarring but here it is seamless and feels very natural.
Titania Hardie takes her time in developing her characters and settings, which may not be to everyone's taste but this pace suited my mood perfectly.
She also exhibits her extensive knowledge of myth, legend and esoteric symbolism with confidence and grace.
I loved it.
Titania Hardie takes her time in developing her characters and settings, which may not be to everyone's taste but this pace suited my mood perfectly.
She also exhibits her extensive knowledge of myth, legend and esoteric symbolism with confidence and grace.
I loved it.
Too slow! I usually love historical fiction and narratives that take place in different eras (in this case, present day San Francisco and Tuscany in the 1300s) but this book didn't flow for me. I kept waiting for the real connection between the present day character and the character from the 1300s. Also, overall there were too many characters -- I think nearly every lawyer at Maddie's firm in SF gets a description. Really? Is that necessary? Because then we are introduced to a whole bunch of pl...more
My Thoughts: I have a deep compassion for stories like Hardie's The House of the Wind. Stories that seamlessly flow from one era to another and Hardie does a wonderful job crafting a defining separation between the tales of Maddie and Mia. Both women are experiencing a troubling time in their lives and the temporary escape to the House of the Wind reveals their inner strength. Hardie stays true to the time period. Maddie's modern world never collides with that of Mia despite some expected simila...more
I really, really, really enjoyed this book. I have to give it 4 out of 5 stars because it did start a little slow for me, but I liked the interwoven stories and I liked that it was about a life, not just an event. I think this book has received a lower ranking from some people because they want action and for things to always be happening. That is not what this book is about. It is a story that covers a lot of time and ground, and slowly meanders along. It is a novel telling how a woman recovers...more
Mar 20, 2013
Emily-Jane Orford
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
historical-fiction
Mia and Agnesca could very well be friends with Maddie. Only they live about four hundred years apart. Mia and Agnesca live in the 17th century; Maddie lives in the 21st century. There is some connection, though. Maddie feels it and it helps her heal. As the reader follows parallel stories of Mia and Agnesca in the 17th century and Maddie in the 21st century, one wonders whose story helps whom, as each character must seek their release from grief and misery and troubling times. This is an excell...more
Mar 04, 2012
Book Him Danno
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012,
books-sent-by-author-publisher-for
I will be reviewing this title on my blog in a week or so and when post that review here at that time. Thanks....it was a bit long and drawn out for my taste...the editor could have used a freer hand in my opinion.
I had great hopes for this book and I have to say that I did enjoy the story once I found it. The story is beautifully written with flowery imaginative language with lovely literary illustrations. But along the way, the story the author was telling got misplaced and it took a bit to fi...more
I had great hopes for this book and I have to say that I did enjoy the story once I found it. The story is beautifully written with flowery imaginative language with lovely literary illustrations. But along the way, the story the author was telling got misplaced and it took a bit to fi...more
Really enjoyed this book. Three very different but strong women have their story told throughout this book. The character of Mia is enchanting and you get to see her grow throughout the chapters of the book. This story is stein the past and the present. The present day story of Madeline finding herself again after experiencing a tragedy that destroys her faith in life. The introduction of Soren in madeline's life is not only a catalyst in Madeline retracing steps of the mystery of the three fema...more
This book alternates between 2 POVS. First there is Maddie in the present day who has lost someone near to her, and she is just slowly moving along She will go to Italy and stay with friends and that is where the second POV comes in. in 1347 a young woman lived at the place she visits and they are connected in some other way too, but that takes a while to know since we need to know young Mia's life first. The title comes from the woman Mia meets, a woman who is fleeing from a cruel fate.
I am a b...more
I am a b...more
Absolutely captivating! The fluctuations between 2007 and 1348 (the time of the Bubonic Plague) kept me reading so I'd know what happened next in each era. Both leading ladies took hold of my heart and refused to let go.
It felt as though there were two distinct melodies being played one after the other, only rarely meeting. And yet the close of the 'song' brought both of the melodies to a satisfying close.
I was especially intrigued by the politics of the medeival area in Tuscany, and how it pla...more
It felt as though there were two distinct melodies being played one after the other, only rarely meeting. And yet the close of the 'song' brought both of the melodies to a satisfying close.
I was especially intrigued by the politics of the medeival area in Tuscany, and how it pla...more
Muy buen libro. Dos historias que se van entrelazando poco a poco. Reconozco que me ha gustado mucho más la del presente, pero la otra también estaba muy bien.
El final muy bonito y dulce, menos mal. Aunque siento que han dejado cosas sin explicar, por ejemplo, no acabo de entender algunas de las aportaciones de Pierce Gray y se me hace raro, pero aún no así no consigue estropear el resto. Para nada.
Lo único que debo decir, es que es un libro en el que es necesario que te guste leer mucho, por l...more
El final muy bonito y dulce, menos mal. Aunque siento que han dejado cosas sin explicar, por ejemplo, no acabo de entender algunas de las aportaciones de Pierce Gray y se me hace raro, pero aún no así no consigue estropear el resto. Para nada.
Lo único que debo decir, es que es un libro en el que es necesario que te guste leer mucho, por l...more
It doesn't happen often, but I couldn't finish a book. There are a lot of good elements in The House of the Wind by Titania Hardie, but after 246 pages I just wasn't feeling it. I usually give up on a book after about 70-80 pages. I go into every book believing I'm going to love, but sometimes that just isn't the case. I started The House of the Wind last month. There were some parts I found interesting, and others I didn't. I put it down and started other books, believing once I come back to it...more
Tuesday, May 1, 2012The House of the Wind by Titania Hardie
*I received this book as an ARC. The review, and my opinions, are all my own.*
The House of the Wind by Titania Hardie is definitely not a fluffy beach-read. It is a book that demands to be savored slowly and thoughtfully with its lushly-written descriptions and gradually-evolving plot. Neither is it a book that can be fully appreciated the first time it is read. The reader may even feel a little frustrated with how slowly the plot prog...more
*I received this book as an ARC. The review, and my opinions, are all my own.*
The House of the Wind by Titania Hardie is definitely not a fluffy beach-read. It is a book that demands to be savored slowly and thoughtfully with its lushly-written descriptions and gradually-evolving plot. Neither is it a book that can be fully appreciated the first time it is read. The reader may even feel a little frustrated with how slowly the plot prog...more
A unique piece of literary fiction that was so enjoyable, I may be short on words. There are two stories running at the same time and the intersect at just the right moment. One woman is in 2007 in San Francisco, has recently lost her fiance and is trying to deal with the grief of it all. Another young woman is in 1347 in Tuscany and is also dealing with losing a family member.
The parallels between these stories weren't too obvious to make the reader feel belittled, but they were subtle and swe...more
The parallels between these stories weren't too obvious to make the reader feel belittled, but they were subtle and swe...more
I rarely drop a read because I am always convinced that no matter how badly a book began, it should wowed me at one point or another. However, 20% through this book, I am convinced that the story had not wowed me at any point but bored me from page 1.
I picked up this book thinking that I am going to read something interesting that crossed centuries with their life entwining with one another because of the mystery of the house. However, 1/5 through the book, the story is going nowhere and instead...more
I picked up this book thinking that I am going to read something interesting that crossed centuries with their life entwining with one another because of the mystery of the house. However, 1/5 through the book, the story is going nowhere and instead...more
A story told in parallel between a modern-day American woman called Maddie and a 14th century Italian girl called Mia, this book centres on the mysterious House of the Wind which was destroyed – perhaps by magic – many centuries before. It’s a rich and densely woven novel, with some wonderfully evocative scenes. I found myself much more interested in the historical thread, and occasionally wished for a quicker pace, but there is a lot of beauty in this book and a lot of heart and spirit.
I was looking forward to reading this. My favourite genre of novels are those with a dual narrative, one set in the past, one in the present - separate yet connected in some way. In 'The House of the Wind', our medieval heroine is Mia in Tuscany, a girl searching for answers re her background whilst confronting the Black Death sweeping across Italy, and our modern heroine is Maddie in San Francisco, a lawyer embroiled in a medical lawsuit whilst grieving for her dead fiance. What a disappointmen...more
Tuscany 1347, and San Francisco 2007 - two very different, but absorbing stories but loosely tied together, told in alternating chapters. I really liked all the main characters and got quite caught up in their lives. Tuscany in the 1300's was dominated by religion and powerful families that ruled the towns; Maddie in San Francisco is mourning the death of her fiance, but still fights a powerful man and his company which has caused many to die of cancer.
Disappointing. I really enjoyed Titania Hardie's first novel ( The Rose Labyrinth)but this was nowhere near as good. The problem was the characters werent developed very well- our heroine is 'leggy' , the love interest Soren has ' a rather sensitive face' etc etc so it was hard to care what happened to any of them. Such a shame.......
I gave up. I still didn't understand the point within 60 pages or so. Very confusing "descriptive" passages. I quote descriptive, as, I know it is supposed to be descriptive, but it is lost in mindless dribble. I could not make sense of it. And in 60 pages, if I still can't even get interested in it? Why continue? I'm not having a good run with books lately.
Wow!!! For me, a very exciting read mixing two stories, one current and one from the Plagues. Ms. Hardie did a masterful job at keeping both separate while intertwining both narratives into a cohesive masterpiece. With her style of writing, I will search for her other novel, "The Rose Labyrinth."
This book was interesting, and did keep my interest, but it was not one of my favorites. Titania is a good writer, but I found myself getting bored at parts, and the characters are kind of "fairy-tale-ish". It is like historical fiction meets romance novel at parts.
Probably 2.5 stars but given 3 because I feel a bit mean giving it 2... can't quite put my finger on why I didn't enjoy this more, the story is well-told and is interesting - but it just wasn't interesting enough to make me feel like I couldn't put the book down. I feel like I wanted to like it more than I did; it was just lacking that certain "something" that all great books have.
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