About this item
A nearly abandoned Italian village, the family that stayed, and long-buried secrets from World War II.On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village -- and a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II -- centuries of earthquakes, landslides, and the lure of a better life have left it neglected. Only ten residents remain, including the widows Serafino -- three eccentric sisters and their steely centenarian mother -- who live quietly in their medieval villa. Then their nephew and grandson, Hugh, a historian, returns.But someone else has arrived before him, laying claim to the cottage where Hugh spent his childhood summers. The unwelcome guest is the captivating and no-nonsense Elisa Tomassi, who asserts that the family patriarch, Aldo Serafino, a resistance fighter whom her own family harbored, gave the cottage to them in gratitude.
About the Author
Dominic Smith is the author of five novels, including The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, a New York Times Bestseller and a New York Times Editors' Choice. Sold into more than a dozen countries, the novel was also a "Best Book of the Year" selection by Amazon, Kirkus Reviews, Slate and the San Francisco Chronicle. In the US it was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence from the American Library Association and in the UK for the Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize. In Australia, it was chosen as the Fiction Indie Book of the Year by the Association of Independent Booksellers and the Literary Book of the Year as part of the Australian Book Industry Awards.Dominic's other novels are The Electric Hotel, Bright and Distant Shores, The Beautiful Miscellaneous, and The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, Texas Monthly, the Chicago Tribune, The Paris Review, The Australian, and The New York Times. Dominic grew up in Sydney, Australia and now lives in Seattle, Washington.Learn more at www.dominicsmith.net
