Category: HF Reading Challenge

#BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway The Lost Boy of Bologna by Francesca Scanacapra @rararesources

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The Lost Boy of BolognaWelcome to the opening day of the blog tour for The Lost Boy of Bologna by Francesca Scanacapra. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy. Do check out the post by my tour buddy for today, David at David’s Book Blurg.

WinI’m delighted to say there’s a (UK only) giveaway with a chance to win one of five paperback copies of The Lost Boy of Bologna. Enter via Rafflecopter here.

Giveaway Terms and Conditions –

  1. UK entries only.
  2. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.
  3. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email.
  4. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner.
  5. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.
  6. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

The Lost Boy of BolognaAbout the Book

Bologna, 1929. A newborn baby boy is abandoned by his desperate unmarried mother, who believes he is dead and that she is to blame. Heartbroken, she leaves her child, accepting that her actions will haunt her for the rest of her days. But unbeknown to her, the kindness of a stranger means the starving baby survives. And so begins the extraordinary life of Rinaldo Scamorza…

Following several years in an orphanage, where Rinaldo still holds onto the hope that his mother will come to claim him, he is entrusted to a heartless foster-mother who treats her charges as nothing more than financial opportunities. Yet amidst the cruelty and violence of this loveless environment Rinaldo meets fellow orphan, Evelina, and the two children create a bond which they believe will never be broken.

Rinaldo holds tight to the few people who show him love, and he becomes a loyal, intelligent and kind boy. But his life is shattered when aged barely 13, Evelina is sold into prostitution by their foster-mother. As he grows up and becomes more resourceful, he finds work as an errand boy in a brothel, where he encounters Evelina once again. But in his efforts to help her escape her life of exploitation, another dark misfortune pulls them apart and she disappears.

When at last Italy begins to emerge from the shadows of World War II and Bologna’s economy recovers, Rinaldo uses his intimate knowledge of the city to change his life for the better. But through everything, the successes and the moments of loneliness and misery, the women he yearns to see again – Evelina and his mother – are always on his mind…

Format: Paperback (288 pages)  Publisher: Silvertail Books
Publication date: 4th April 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Lost Boy of Bologna on Goodreads

Purchase links
Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The book description tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the plot, except how events will eventually play out for Rinaldo and Evelina.  Rinaldo’s experiences once he leaves the orphanage have the air of the picaresque as he comes into contact with all sorts of colourful characters (my favourite being an old down and out very attached to his broom). Cleverly, the significance of Rinaldo’s seemingly random encounters only becomes apparent towards the end of the book, even if some of these fall into what I call the ‘Casablanca category’ – “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”

Some of the most powerful scenes for me were those involving Evelina, so much so the book could just as well have been titled The Lost Girl of Bologna. The author really brings to life, in unflinching detail, the cruelty and depravity that those without the protection of family or friends can be subjected to, especially young women.  But there is also the unexpected kindness of strangers; in one particular case, a kindness that will bring its own reward.

Eventually Rinaldo’s fortunes change courtesy of a combination of luck and his own entrepreneurial spirit. His unique business idea – many decades ahead of its time – made me chuckle.

Those familiar with the city of Bologna will enjoy the descriptions of its streets, squares and notable buildings and those who are not will be probably be adding a visit to the city to their bucket list. The Lost Boy of Bologna is billed as the first book of the ‘Bologna Chronicles’ so those not able to make an actual visit to the city may, courtesy of the author, look forward to returning via the medium of the written word.

In three words: Emotional, immersive, detailed

Try something similar: Lily by Rose Tremain

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Francesca ScanacapraAbout the Author

Francesca Scanacapra was born in Italy to an English mother and Italian father, and her early childhood was spent in Bologna, the city whose rich history has been the inspiration for the Bologna Chronicles series of novels. Francesca’s adult life has been somewhat nomadic with periods spent living in Italy, England, France, Senegal and Spain. In 2021 she returned to her native country and back to her earliest roots to pursue her writing career full time. She now resides permanently in rural Lombardy in the house built by her great-grandfather which was the inspiration for her Paradiso Novels. (Photo: Twitter profile)

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#BookReview Traitor in the Ice by K. J. Maitland @HeadlineFiction

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Traitor in the IceAbout the Book

Winter, 1607. A man is struck down in the grounds of Battle Abbey, Sussex. Before dawn breaks, he is dead.

Home to the Montagues, Battle has caught the paranoid eye of King James. The Catholic household is rumoured to shelter those loyal to the Pope, disguising them as servants within the abbey walls. And the last man sent to expose them was silenced before his report could reach London.

Daniel Pursglove is summoned to infiltrate Battle and find proof of treachery. He soon discovers that nearly everyone at the abbey has something to hide – for deeds far more dangerous than religious dissent. But one lone figure he senses only in the shadows, carefully concealed from the world. Could the notorious traitor Spero Pettingar finally be close at hand?

As more bodies are unearthed, Daniel determines to catch the culprit. But how do you unmask a killer when nobody is who they seem?

Format: Hardback (432 pages)        Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 31st March 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Traitor in the Ice on Goodreads

Purchase links
Bookshop.org
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

Traitor in the Ice is the second book in the author’s historical crime series featuring intelligencer Daniel Pursglove, the follow-up to The Drowned City.

In Traitor in the Ice we learn a little more about Daniel but much of his past still remains a mystery. In fact, some of it is a mystery even to himself. ‘I didn’t even know the year of my birth, much less the name my father had given me, if indeed any man had ever owned to being my father.’ What we do know is that he’s quick-thinking, handy with a lockpick but often, for reasons connected with his past, has to restrain his own violent instincts. ‘Killing a man was easy; forcing himself to lower the dagger was not’. In addition, his previous actions have given others a hold over him meaning he has little choice but to accept dangerous tasks such as his current mission.  And there is one particular person whose hatred for Daniel is very personal in nature. ‘He [Daniel] always comes back. A cockroach, a rat and a stinking malignant will always return, until you cut them into pieces and destroy them’. I must say I do like the way the author is drip-feeding us nuggets of information about Daniel’s past.

The discovery of the Gunpowder Plot and the ruthless despatch of the conspirators has only increased the sense of paranoia around the Jacobean court and in the country. Sent to try to uncover the fate of a previous intelligencer, by a combination of luck and quick-thinking Daniel successfully inveigles his way into the household of Battle Abbey. Once there he undertakes a lot of surreptitious exploration of the Abbey, which is conveniently situated close to the coast. He is surprised to find evidence of Catholic worship taking place in plain sight, making him convinced Viscountess Montague must have a protector in high places.

Talking of people in high places, surely no historical novel set in the period is complete without an appearance by one of the Cecil family; in this case it’s Robert Cecil. I actually felt some sympathy for him having to deal with the increasingly bizarre behaviour of the petulant King James I whose current obsession is the mass planting of mulberry trees. And although not central to the plot, I enjoyed the occasional glimpses into life in the Jacobean court. There is one fantastic scene depicting a particularly lavish banquet at which servers bear trays of ‘confections and cakes, roasted birds and small beasts re-dressed in their own feathers and fur, or artfully stitched together by the cooks to create piglets with cocks’ wings and heads, or salmon with rabbit legs and scut tails’. (By the way, if the word ‘sewer’ conjures up thoughts of needlework or even drains, you may be interested to read the author’s article in the April 2022 edition of Historia magazine in which she describes what it must have been like to dine at Battle Abbey in Tudor times.)  However, underneath all the outward display of excess and pleasure-seeking, there flow dark undercurrents of intrigue and political powerplay.

Traitor in the Ice is full of impeccably researched historical detail, everything from food and drink to social and religious customs. I thoroughly recommend reading the Author’s Note which reveals how many of the characters and events in the book are situated in historical fact, such as the Great Frost of 1607 which forms the backdrop to the book and inspires its title. I also loved that the glossary goes beyond brief definitions, for example explaining the role that kingfishers played in a Tudor and Stuart household or revealing more information about Sussex’s rival to the Loch Ness Monster.

Of course, there’s also a mystery to be solved which turns out to be a whole lot more complicated than first imagined involving, amongst other things, priest holes, ‘leopards’ and buried treasure. I thoroughly enjoyed Traitor in the Ice. As well as featuring some fascinating characters, such as the mysterious Cimex and Viscountess Montague’s ward, Katheryne (described as a combination of ‘virgin, nymph and witch’), it has a great sense of time and place. Plus the author leaves plenty of deliciously enticing loose ends to be picked up in future books (I hope).

My thanks to Rachel at Rachel Quin Marketing for arranging my digital review copy of Traitor in the Ice via NetGalley.

In three words: Intriguing, suspenseful, immersive

Try something similar: The Poison Bed by E. C. Fremantle

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K J Maitland Karen MaitlandAbout the Author

Karen Maitland is an historical novelist, lecturer and teacher of Creative Writing, with over twenty books to her name. She grew up in Malta, which inspired her passion for history, and travelled and worked all over the world before settling in the United Kingdom. She has a doctorate in psycholinguistics, and now lives on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon

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