OVERVIEW
This book didn't work for me as it was really sad and depressing. It was described as an unsolved family mystery and coming of age with blah, blah, and then a passing mention of WWII. Actually, it was more about WWII and the aftermath than anything else. I would not have read this eARC if I knew it was WWII-heavy. It felt like I was duped with the description.
This really should have been a historical fiction book that focused on Italy's erratic and inhumane handling of the Jewish population during WWII. The unsolved mystery doesn't really add, but muddled it, IMHO.
OVERALL REVIEW: 3.0 stars.
Writing: 3.0 stars
Mary's writing is very inconsistent to me. The book was either well-written at times or repetitive and boring in sections.
The writing was easy to read and the book was a fast read at times, but it wasn't written beautifully when places in the book were crying out for descriptions.
Character development: 3.5 stars
The main characters are: Viola (daughter in 1942, mother in 1972/2002) and Laura (Viola's daughter in 1972 and seeker of her mother in 2002).
The secondary characters are: Josef (Viola's father in 1942), Anna (Viola's mother in 1942), Rudy (Viola's brother in 1942/1972/2002), and Tommaso (an Italian soldier in 1942/1972/2002).
The tertiary characters are Viola/Laura's family, WWII, The Red House, the Italian soldiers, the other Jewish captives, and the local villagers.
Many other throw-away characters move the story along but not necessary to develop them.
Storyline: 3.0 stars
The story is about Viola who disappears without a clue in 1972. The disappearance has been emotionally difficult for her husband and her two daughters. In 2002, Laura receives a call from the detective on her mother's case and she suddenly disappears to Italy without a clue. History repeats itself again.
The book is divided into four stories including all three timelines of 1942, 1972, and 2002. The four stories don't follow a specific rhyme or reason so I didn't understand why they were stories included.
Additionally, the writing jumps from time to time without headings for the chapters which is jarring and hard to follow.
Finally, there are a few subplots (filled with gratuitous sexual content) that seem unnecessary to me. I will not elaborate more to avoid spoilers.
The locations were: Italy; New Jersey and New York, USA.
Memorable/Informative: 5.0 stars
As this was a WWII novel, there were new things for me to learn. I did not realize that the Italian Jews in Southern Italy were relatively safe albeit not housed, fed, or clothed well by the Italian army. When these prisons were disbanded, some Jewish people stayed in the relative safety of the south and some traveled to the German-controlled north to face almost certain death.
Book cover: 3.0 stars
Where's The Red House?
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfect
LUKEWARM recommend
NetGalley eARC/eBOOK
The Red House by Mary Morris
304 pages
Doubleday
FUTURE release date: 5/13/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
TRIGGER WARNING: Death of a parent, death of a child, war, suicide, pregnancy, sexual situations, sexual abuse, alcohol, incarceration, violence
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
No comments:
Post a Comment