The publisher’s summary
1974. Elena Damiani lives a gilded life. Born to wealth and a noted beauty, no door is closed to her, no man can resist her. At twenty-six, she is already onto her third husband when she meets her love match. But he is the one man she can never have – and all the beauty and money in the world can’t change it.
2017. Francesca Hackett is living la dolce vita in Rome, leading tourist groups around the Eternal City and forgetting the ghosts she left behind in London.
When chance brings her into the orbit of her neighbour across the piazza – famed socialite Viscontessa Elena dei Damiani Pignatelli della Mirandola – the two women are intrigued by one another and agree to collaborate on Elena’s memoirs. As summer unfurls, Elena tells her sensational stories, leaving Cesca in her thrall.
But when a priceless diamond ring, found in an ancient tunnel below the city streets, is ascribed to Elena, Cesca begins to suspect a shocking secret at the heart of Elena’s life . . .
My reading experience
I really like Karen Swan’s books but I only discovered her recently so I decided to gradually go back and read those books I had not read yet. This one was very attractive to me because it takes place in Rome, a city I have visited a few times and which I find fascinating.
The central character, Elena, is superbly written. The descriptions of her, of her life in America and her lifestyle in Italy, her palazzo in Rome, her jewels, her clothes, everything is very precisely crafted in words. She fills the pages of the book with her strong personality and her aura. Cesca is also a very pleasant character and has the important role of making the link between the past and the present, and bringing to light an incredible family secret. Elena and Cesca have some things in common: they have both gone abroad to reinvent themselves and they both have secrets in their past that are haunting them. I really did not see where the story was going until the end of the book and the plot was very well put together.
The book is well researched and the atmosphere of Rome is very nicely rendered. And thanks to the character of Nico, we learn about the incredible number of sinkholes that occur in Rome because of all the history below the ground, and how a map of the sinkhole susceptibility has even been put together and keeps being updated. The author also shares some of the locations and characters that have inspired her to create this story.
A very pleasant read again from Karen Swan.
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