Book Review - The Girl from Portofino (Girls of the Italian Resistance) by Siobhan Daiko #HistoricalFiction #WomensFiction #WorldWarIIRomance @siobhandaiko @maryanneyarde

 

The Girl from Portofino

(Girls of the Italian Resistance)

By Siobhan Daiko

Publication Date: 30th December 2021. Publisher: Asolando Books. Page Length: 300 Pages. Genre: Women’s Historical Fiction/29th Century Historical/World War 2 Historical

In 1970 Gina Bianchi returns to Portofino to attend her father’s funeral, accompanied by her troubled twenty-four-year-old daughter, Hope. There, Gina is beset by vivid memories of World War 2, a time when she fought with the Italian Resistance and her twin sister, Adele, worked for the Germans. 

In her childhood bedroom, Gina reads Adele’s diary, left behind during the war. As Gina learns the devastating truth about her sister, she’s compelled to face the harsh brutality of her own past. Will she finally lay her demons to rest, or will they end up destroying her and the family she loves?

A hauntingly epic read that will sweep you away to the beauty of the Italian Riviera and the rugged mountains of its hinterland. “The Girl from Portofino” is a story about heart-wrenching loss and uplifting courage, love, loyalty, and secrets untold.

Trigger Warnings:

The brutality of war, death, war crimes against women.

Book Rating:

📚📚📚📚📚⭐ = A book in a million

📚📚📚📚📚 = I could not put this book down. I Highly Recommend it.

📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.

📚📚📚 = It was enjoyable.

📚📚 = It was okay.

📚 = Um...! 😕

My Review

The Girl from Portofino

📚📚📚📚📚 = I could not put this book down. I Highly Recommend it.

After reading and enjoying The Girl from Venice (you can read my review here)  I was really looking forward to reading the second book in the Girls of the Italian Resistance series. 

Gina Bianchi travels to Italy to attend her father’s funeral, visiting a hometown she has not seen in many years. When her mother hands her a diary written by her twin sister, Adele, Gina is hesitant to read it. Adele had worked for the Germans during the war, which is simply unforgivable. But, Gina never knew the whole full story, no one had until her mother read the diary. So, Gina picks it up and starts to learn about her sister's war, while remembering her own experiences at the same time.

I loved that Adele’s life is depicted through diary entries, and how it also led to Gina thinking back to the time, to when she left home to join the Resistance with her best friend and meeting lifelong friends while there. Violence begets violence, but when Enzo, an English soldier, joins the Resistance, it is not violence on Gina’s mind. Likewise, Adele finds herself chasing romance, despite the risks. Both women were incredibly brave to do what they did in this novel. They both put their lives in danger multiple times, and although the reasoning for their actions is not entirely clear to anyone but themselves, this only makes them all the stronger. Adele, in particular, has her reasons for doing what she does, but with no one knowing the truth but her, her family ostracise her, and it takes years for the truth to finally come out.

This book is absolutely brilliant, from start to finish. From Gina learning about Adele’s past, and remembering her own, and her daughter, Hope, just starting to find her way in the world, it seems Portofino is the perfect place for this novel to revolve around, with the women of this novel all adoring the place enough to put their lives on the line to protect it. I implore you to get yourself a copy of this book, and read it!

You can pick up your copy of this book on Amazon. If you subscribe to #KindleUnlimited you can read this novel for free.

Siobhan Daiko is an international bestselling historical romantic fiction author. A lover of all things Italian, she lives in the Veneto region of northern Italy with her husband, a Havanese puppy and two rescue cats. After a life of romance and adventure in Hong Kong, Australia and the UK, Siobhan now spends her time, when she isn't writing, enjoying the sweet life near Venice. 

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