Two Women in Rome

Reviews

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Although I still found Nina’s journal remarkably detailed (she obviously had a good memory for conversations), the motivations suggested for her having kept it were believable, albeit unwise given what the reader learns about her. However, in this case the author manages to make it work chiefly because Lottie’s role as an archivist naturally involves the perusal of previously unexamined papers. The similarities between the two women could make them merge into one but the author successfully ensures they exist as characters in their own right. And in a country where family is everything, the power of blood ties to influence events should never be underestimated or ignored.

Regular followers of my blog will know I’m not a great fan of the narrative device of the secret journal, finding it rather artificial. As you would expect from a novel set in Rome, food features prominently.

Nina’s part of the story, revealed through her journal and other papers, features a particularly turbulent time in Italy’s political history – the late 1970s – a period I’ve not seen featured in historical fiction before. Having said that, Lottie’s curiosity does seem to have a blind spot closer to home.