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151st out of 493 books
—
628 voters
The Villa Triste
Florence, 1943. Two sisters, Isabella and Caterina Cammaccio, find themselves surrounded by terror and death; and with Italy trapped under the heel of a brutal Nazi occupation, bands of Partisans rise up.
Soon Isabella and Caterina will test their wits and deepest beliefs as never before. As the winter grinds on, they will be forced to make the most important decisions of...more
Soon Isabella and Caterina will test their wits and deepest beliefs as never before. As the winter grinds on, they will be forced to make the most important decisions of...more
Published
(first published 2010)
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The Villa Triste was a fabulous piece of fiction that I'm glad I came across. I enjoyed the book immensely and was gripped the entire time.
The story opens in 1943 Florence. Two sisters: Caterina and Isabella. Their lives – along with all of Italy – are about to be turned upside down. As Italy backs out of the war and severs its alliance with Germany, most of the country immediately becomes occupied by the Nazis. Isabella and their brother Enrico join The Resistance, and soon Caterina has no choi...more
The story opens in 1943 Florence. Two sisters: Caterina and Isabella. Their lives – along with all of Italy – are about to be turned upside down. As Italy backs out of the war and severs its alliance with Germany, most of the country immediately becomes occupied by the Nazis. Isabella and their brother Enrico join The Resistance, and soon Caterina has no choi...more
Villa Triste is de tweede roman van Lucretia Grindle. The Faces of Angels, het eerste deel, is nog niet in het Nederlands verschenen. Zij wil een trilogie schrijven over drie grote politieke periodes in het Italië van de twintigste eeuw. Villa Triste is daar het eerste deel van. Het tweede deel zal The Lost Daughter heten en speelt zich ook af in Florence. Het boek verschijnt in maart 2013.
Caterina en Isabella Cammaccio zijn zussen. Ze wonen met hun ouders in Florence. Caterina werkt als leerlin...more
Caterina en Isabella Cammaccio zijn zussen. Ze wonen met hun ouders in Florence. Caterina werkt als leerlin...more
This was an okay read and did get better toward the end. But it could have been much better. The book was marred by a couple of things. One is(especially early on) that the author tended to slip into trite usages-- things like "her heart stopped". Well, no, it didn't, otherwise they'd be calling 911! The other thing was that she tried to build up encounters artificially -- lots of needless description of the setting before the characters get down to whatever it was they had to talk about. The au...more
A novel with a great sense of time and place: The book begins as Caterina prepares for her wedding in September 1943. She is a nurse, but her sister Isabella, a University student is already involved in an underground group determined to resist the German occupation. Reluctantly Caterina becomes involved as her nursing skills prove useful in getting Jews and others whose lives are threatened out of Italy.
However, in the 21st century a man is murdered: a man who has recently received a medal for...more
However, in the 21st century a man is murdered: a man who has recently received a medal for...more
The Villa Triste is a novel that flits between time periods, moving from war-torn Florence to peacetime Florence over 60 years later. It tells the tale of a group of Italian partisans during the war and a related murder investigation in the 2000s.
I liked this book a lot, especially the parts recounting the partisan story during the Second World War. Ms Grindle evoked the spirit of times, the oppressive fear and Cati's claustrophic world beautifully. Cati is a good narrator, an ordinary woman for...more
I liked this book a lot, especially the parts recounting the partisan story during the Second World War. Ms Grindle evoked the spirit of times, the oppressive fear and Cati's claustrophic world beautifully. Cati is a good narrator, an ordinary woman for...more
Apr 19, 2013
Marathon County Public Library
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adult-fiction,
adult
No other historical fiction novel has grabbed my attention like that of Lucretia Grindle's "Villa Triste." Grindle expertly intertwines contemporary mystery with historical fiction set in a location that many novels about World War II do not touch on as heavily. Set in Italy during the Nazi occupation, readers are told the gripping story of two sisters, one on the brink of marriage and both quickly forced to make decisions impacting the present day murder investigation of a local partisan hero.
...more
I enjoyed this book quite a lot, but I wish it was better. The portions of the story set in the 1940's were engrossing, but the portions set in current day were tedious, and as the book went on, became much more prominent.
What I liked. The the two sisters fighting with the partisans against Nazi's and Fascists, albeit each in their own way, made for interesting reading. The characters had different personalities, and each fought in ways that were consistent with their outlook. Each experienced...more
What I liked. The the two sisters fighting with the partisans against Nazi's and Fascists, albeit each in their own way, made for interesting reading. The characters had different personalities, and each fought in ways that were consistent with their outlook. Each experienced...more
This could have been a terrific novel about the resistance movement in Italy in WWII and a modern day murder that results from those events, but it has two major flaws. The worst is this: it should have been edited down to perhaps 420 pages. Particularly in the modern day sections, the author makes a point, and makes it again, and makes it yet again, for 6 or 8 pages of no forward progress. That gets old quickly and led me to start skimming in those sections. The second problem is that the moder...more
De toon van deze detective is heel traditioneel en dat vond ik een verademing in vergelijking met al die thrillers van de laatste jaren, waar het bloed van de bladzijden spet. Deze detective is interessant omdat er twee paralelle geschiedenissen worden verteld die allebei hecht met elkaar verbonden zijn. Het verhaal en de daden van de twee zusters in Florence tijdens WW-II hebben direct te maken met de moorden die de inspecteur in de huidige tijd onderzoekt. Boeiend om over de situatie in 1943 i...more
Villa Triste covers the years of 1943-945 in Italy. It involves the actions of one of many partisan groups who tried to help the Allies as they invaded Italy and pushed back the Nazis. The story revolves around the Cammaccio sisters, Caterina and Isabella, who were involved in smuggling out Jews and Allied POW's. Isabella was the more adventurous of the two, and Caterina was reluctantly dragged in because of her position as nurse with access to supplies that were needed to disguise the escapees....more
Villa Triste van Lucretia Grindle begint met een verhaal uit het Italiaans oorlogsverleden. Het verhaal smelt langzaam samen met de moordzaak die Allesandro Pallioti moet oplossen. Door het dagboek van Caterina Cammaccio komt hij langzamerhand dichterbij de waarheid.
Eerlijk is eerlijk, het koste mij moeite om in het boek te komen. De Italiaanse namen en woorden haalde ik in het begin door elkaar.
Pas wanneer de dapperheid van Caterina voelbaar wordt, wint Grindle mijn hart. Caterina is voor mij...more
Eerlijk is eerlijk, het koste mij moeite om in het boek te komen. De Italiaanse namen en woorden haalde ik in het begin door elkaar.
Pas wanneer de dapperheid van Caterina voelbaar wordt, wint Grindle mijn hart. Caterina is voor mij...more
Another brilliant "find". This is one that'd appeal equally to those of you who like detective fiction (Pallioti's a really endearing character, a bit of a Florentine Morse with his slightly rougher sidekick, Enzo) and romantic dual time narrative. The book opens with Isabella and Caterina, two fairly well-off sisters in Florence in 1943, and tells of their growing involvement with the partisans as the Allies move North through Italy to drive out the Germans. We then switch to the modern story,...more
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This is an fascinating book which is very well and beautifully written. Set in Florence, Italy, there are 2 parallel stories. One deals with the partisans during WWII who were an underground resistance group, leading escaped Allied POWs and Jews out of Italy as well as blowing up bridges and generally creating mayhem for the Nazis. The story is of 2 sisters who join this group. The second story is set in current times and deals with 2 partisan fighters who survived the war and are murdered. The...more
Wow. This book is 630 pages long, and I could not put it down. It bounces back and forth between the stories of an Italian family in WWII and a detective trying to solve a murder in present day Italy. This is one of those books where I felt like I couldn't read the words fast enough to find out what was going to happen next. SO suspenseful. I would find myself thinking about this book often when I wasn't reading it, wondering how everything was going to fit together in the end. The passages deta...more
Loved it. Florence in WW2 mixed with current day murder mystery. A fab combination.
Goed verhaal over een politiefunctionaris die in het tegenwoordige Italië een moord op een oude man probeert op te lossen. Omdat hij tijdens het onderzoek op een dagboekje stuit speelt het verhaal deels in het Italië tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog . Het dagboek was van een vrouw die samen met haar zus in het verzet zat. Tijdens het verhaal leert de lezer veel over de partizanen in Italië en hun verzet tegen de Duitsers en het fascisme. Al lezende blijkt dat de moord in verband staat met een gebe...more
An ordinary family living in Florence against the backdrop of the second world war gets involved with the partisan movement...the choices they make change their lives forever and create the circumstances leading to murder many years later.
Really well written, this book has believable and human characters, a moving account of how 'ordinary people do extraordinary things', an elegant investigator and very skilful interplay between the past and the present... sad, beautiful, complex and exciting -...more
Really well written, this book has believable and human characters, a moving account of how 'ordinary people do extraordinary things', an elegant investigator and very skilful interplay between the past and the present... sad, beautiful, complex and exciting -...more
Villa Triste is a wonderful novel that has two stories that are melded in to a fine work of fiction. Two very different, yet remarkable sisters become part of the Italian partisans during the Natzi occ upation of Florence in1944.
Their story of heroism is revealed when to men are murdered sixty years later and found with a single bullet to the back of the head and their mouth stuffed with salt. Chief of Police, Piolitti must put together a mystery that ha taken over sixty years to unfold. A great...more
Their story of heroism is revealed when to men are murdered sixty years later and found with a single bullet to the back of the head and their mouth stuffed with salt. Chief of Police, Piolitti must put together a mystery that ha taken over sixty years to unfold. A great...more
This book was one part literary novel, one part thriller/murder mystery, and one part historical fiction. The story alternates back and forth between Nazi-occupied Florence, where two sisters become caught up in the resistance movement, and modern-day Florence, where a police inspector tries to solve the murders of two old men, both decorated former partisan fighters. The stories weave together well, but not too quickly that the reader can see the endgame far in advance. We discover things at th...more
At 629 pages, the sheer size of this volume initially overwhelmed me, and I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I hadn't won a copy through a Goodreads giveaway. Connecting the past with the present, this was more of a current-era murder mystery than I thought it would be. Once I warmed up to this concept, however, I actually found the mystery angle to be quite intriguing. The writing was good, the story was never dull, and there were just enough leads and diversions to keep me guessing right...more
Dit boek gaat over twee zussen in Italië 1943 tweede wereldoorlog. Italië is van bondgenoot overgegaan naar tegenstander van Duitsland. De zussen zijn betrokken bij de partizanenstrijd waarbij hun verzetsgroep wordt verraden. 60 jaar na dato worden er twee oude mannen vermoord. Een politie-inspecteur gaat op zoek naar de dader en lost uiteindelijk ook het verraad op wat plaats vond in Florence in 1944. Een mooi boek: historie, romance en detective ineen. Goed geschreven boek wat moeilijk weg te...more
Ik dacht een boek te gaan lezen over het Italië in WO II. Over een familie in oorlogstijd en de gevolgen daarvan op hun leven. Ook na een stukje in het boek te hebben gelezen, verkeerde ik nog steeds in die veronderstelling. Begrijp me niet verkeerd, dat is óók zo, maar ik was verrast toen er ineens een sprong in de tijd werd gemaakt. Van 1943 springen we naar het Florence van 2006 en een oude man blijkt te zijn vermoord. Politiechef Pallioti wordt belast met het onderzoek naar de moordenaar. De...more
Oct 08, 2012
Elsje
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
recensieboek,
read-2012
Ik had ingetekend op Villa Triste van de Amerikaanse schrijfster Lucretia Grindle. Het werd aangeprezen als het ideale vakantieboek. Nu hangt dat er natuurlijk erg vanaf wat voor boeken je graag tijdens vakantie leest maar dat terzijde :-)
Het verhaal
Het verhaal speelt zich afwisselend af in het Florence van 1943-1945 en het najaar van 2006, waardoor de invloed van het verleden op het heden
Zomer 1943. De fascisten van Mussolini zijn verdreven, het wachten is op de geallieerden. Denkt men. Want m...more
Het verhaal
Het verhaal speelt zich afwisselend af in het Florence van 1943-1945 en het najaar van 2006, waardoor de invloed van het verleden op het heden
Zomer 1943. De fascisten van Mussolini zijn verdreven, het wachten is op de geallieerden. Denkt men. Want m...more
Caterina & Isabella Cammaccio, 2 zussen. Samen met hun ouders en broer Enrico leiden zij een betrekkelijk comfortabel leven in het Florence van 1943, totdat Italië bezet wordt door Nazi-Duitsland. Door de gebeurtenissen in deze oorlog worden de zussen tijdens de oorlogsjaren gedwongen tot beslissingen die zestig jaar na het einde van de oorlog nog heel verstrekkende gevolgen hebben.
In het Florence van 2006 wordt een oude man dood gevonden in zijn appartement. Deze man was een verzetsheld, ee...more
In het Florence van 2006 wordt een oude man dood gevonden in zijn appartement. Deze man was een verzetsheld, ee...more
I read this after seeing in a review suggesting it would appeal to C J Sansom fans and I was not disappointed .
It is beautifully written without being indulgent, sensitive without being overly sentimental and gripping but not gratuitous .
I enjoyed learning more about Italy in WW2 and the brave partisans, in particular the strong female characters who were realistic flawed heroes.
It was the kind of book I didn't want to put down , that kept me guessing all the Ahwaz through . I did guess the en...more
So glad I did not abandon. Her writing becomes quite masterly beginning page 66< & is a real page-turner. The author has deftly woven Italy's Resistance past & the present together in a mystery that brings to light the particular difficulties Italy faced towards the end of World War II when Italy left the Axis Powers & joined the Allies, with Nazis still in charge of part of Italy, and Fascists feeling cut adrift and betrayed. This book pairs up well with _Winter in Madrid_ which...more
Feb 15, 2013
Cindy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
goodreads-giveaway,
books-i-recommend
I won this book through Goodreads First Reads. I loved it!
Villa Triste is a fascinating and beautifully written book. It has two parallel stories. Set in Florence, one story is about the partisans during WW11 who helped escaped Allied POWs and Jews out of Italy. This story centers around two sisters who join this group. The second story is set in current times and involves the murder investigation of two partisan fighters.
The story ran smoothly and even though I suspected the ending it did not...more
Villa Triste is a fascinating and beautifully written book. It has two parallel stories. Set in Florence, one story is about the partisans during WW11 who helped escaped Allied POWs and Jews out of Italy. This story centers around two sisters who join this group. The second story is set in current times and involves the murder investigation of two partisan fighters.
The story ran smoothly and even though I suspected the ending it did not...more
Set in Florence, Italy, in the waning years of WWII, this is a great read. The Germans have occupied Italy, the Allies are slowly advancing from the south. Times are very tense.
Isabella Cammaccio joins the resistance and helps Allied soldiers and Jews escape to safety. Soon she enlists the help of her sister, Caterina, who is a nurse. They impound an ambulance, they forge papers, they dress the "wounds" of their "patients", and are able to get through the German checkpoint.
Now, Lucretia Grindle...more
Isabella Cammaccio joins the resistance and helps Allied soldiers and Jews escape to safety. Soon she enlists the help of her sister, Caterina, who is a nurse. They impound an ambulance, they forge papers, they dress the "wounds" of their "patients", and are able to get through the German checkpoint.
Now, Lucretia Grindle...more
This novel is set in Italy in the second world war in flashbacks and in modern times. The murder mystery is unusual and a bit twisty. The detective is well developed and human rather than a super sleuth. The partisan period in Italy was one that I knew nothing about essentially and that historical period kept me thinking and learning. The story has something o everyone- history buff, mystery lover, and romance preferer.
I liked this story. The story of the past (WWII and the Resistance Fighters in Paris) blends seamlessly with the murders to be solved in the present, making for a well-paced read. The characters are nicely fleshed out, and the challenges during the Occupation create taut dramatic tension. The end is a *little* hokey, but it doesn't detract from the overall story. I would recommend this book to friends.
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Lucretia Grindle was born in Boston Massachusetts and grew up spending half her time in the United States and half her time in the UK. Continuing as she started out, she still splits her time, but now calls the coast of Maine home.
More about Lucretia Grindle...
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Apr 30, 2013 08:13pm