Last Voyage of the Valentina

Switching between wartime Italy and 1970s London, the book tells the story of Alba Arbuckle, whose father, Thomas, fell in love with a beautiful Italian girl during the war. After the war, he returns to the tiny Italian village of Incantelleria to marry his lovely Valentina, who has already borne him a child, Alba. But Thomas and baby Alba return to England alone. Devastated, Thomas eventually marries a tweedy Englishwoman who tries to mother the increasingly defiant Alba. As she grows up, Alba becomes a rebellious, shallow young woman with a string of lovers. Eventually, she goes to Italy to find her "real" family. What she discovers there changes her life forever. Montefiore is a grand storyteller. Her near-lyrical descriptive prose is appealing on its own; the plot is involving on multiple levels, crossing several genres; and her characters step well beyond formula.

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