Francesca Loftfield is an idealistic, altruistic 27-year-old American who is sent on an important mission to Santa Chionia, a small, isolated mountain village in Calabria, Italy. Her goal is to build a nursery school which would be a game changer for this community. It’s 1960 but it might as well be the Middle Ages in Santa Chionia as electricity is almost non-existent, there’s no running water, professional health care, telephones, or modern conveniences, and poverty is the norm. Whenever the bridge is down (a common occurrence), the town is cut off from the rest of the world. Getting out of Santa Chionia is a treacherous ordeal as one has to traverse over miles and miles of ravines, hills, and forests. The child rescue organization that is sponsoring Francesca’s undertaking believes that if the young children are given proper education, and taught how to have better health and hygiene, not only will the infant mortality rate will be drastically reduced, but it will be a step towards bringing the community into the 20th century.

One would think that establishing a nursery wouldn’t incur any opposition but unfortunately for Francesca, there are many Chionoti who don’t want her accomplishing her assignment. Having the people of Santa Chionia remain backwards and uneducated benefits a small group of elites who aren’t going to allow Francesca to crash their party. Especially not a young American woman who doesn’t know the ways and customs of the village. As an outsider, Francesca has a multitude of problems dealing and just communicating with the Chionoti. She doesn’t know who to trust; people she believed to be enemies are really allies, and some of her “friends” are really her detractors. Not only does Francesca have to cope with contentious townsfolk, but quite often she is her own worst enemy. Francesca is stubborn, impetuous, rash, reckless, temperamental, and naïve, all traits which cause her to end up in hot water more than once. She’s also kindhearted, loving, sensitive, passionate, making her a completely endearing character. In spite of her many flaws and impulsive behavior, it’s difficult to not be behind her 100%.

As if Francesca didn’t already have a herculean task setting up a nursery school not everyone desires, she ends up taking on the role of amateur detective. A flood unearths a human skeleton that had been buried underneath the post office. One woman believes that the remains belong to her missing son, while another woman believes that it’s her unaccounted for husband. Both of these women beg Francesca to help them ascertain what happened to their loved ones. Suffice it to say, many of the townspeople don’t appreciate Francesca’s poking around. Francesca also has to make difficult decisions regarding how involved she wants to become with the other issues happening around her, such as domestic abuse, extortion, and thievery. As Francesca realizes that her life may be in danger, she’s torn between her desire to complete her mission, and wanting to escape with her life. As the story progressed and the suspense continued to build, it's easy to become anxious about Francesca’s well being.

The author has done a marvelous creating a sense of place. Santa Chionia is a picturesque town that for all of its beauty, contains much ugliness and vileness. It was horrifying to hear about such barbaric traditions as fuitina and "rehabilitating marriage.” She also excels in creating fascinating and memorable characters.

I was torn between wanting to see how the story was going to end, and not wanting to end my time in the world of Francesca and Santa Chionia. I usually don’t care for sequels but I would love for the author to revisit Santa Chionia, maybe have Francesca become an advisor to another idealistic young woman who attempts to bring an improved quality of life to the children in this town where the people in power will do all that they can to maintain the status quo, thwarting progress at all costs.

I highly recommend getting lost in Santa Chionia, you might never want to come back.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in return for my honest review.

The Lost Boy of Santa Chiona refers to a skeleton that is unearthed by a fall flood in the small Italian town of Santa Chiona in the early 1960s. Theresa is a young American woman working for a Child Relief agency that has been sent to open a nursery school. She is immediately drawn into the mystery of the skeleton, and it seems that there is intrigue around every corner of the village. The story gets too convoluted for me. It was hard to remember the relationship between all the characters and although I was certain the landlady was up to no good, she was the only one without an ulterior motive or false face by the end. Even Theresa wasn't always honest with the villagers and seemed like a lost child herself.

It's 1960, and Francesca Loftfield, a twenty-seven-year-old "very American," American is tasked by the British organization with opening a school in a small mountain village called Santa Chionia. No water, electricity, professional medicine... Francesca has an uphill battle in this isolated part of Italy.

When flood levels recede and a human skeleton is found, Francesca is begged by a local housekeeper to determine if it's her long lost son.
It's complicated and bulky but an interesting story and full of rich detail that any historian would love.
#knopf #pantheon

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. The basic story is that a 20-something woman in a remote Italian village to start a nursery school is asked by two different women to figure out if a dead body is their relative. The story itself is a lot more complicated as human beings normally are. I thought she was a decent detective for an amateur. The village was very crime-ridden and disheartening. The idea of reparative marriage in the case of rape is pretty horrifying. A look into the seedy underbelly of a small Italian town.

The anticipation of what revelations Francesca will encounter next among the patrons of Santa Chionia are dominant is this novel. I didn't want to put it down, hoping that she would discover solid proof with each of her excursions. There are so many Italian characters involved that some of the names are difficult to distinguish but in the end it was a great story.

The books contains murder, mystery and is set in italy. All of these are a huge pluses.

The story is very complex with a mirad of characters. At several point I lost my way and found myself repeatedly going back a rereading pages and chapters to figure out where the story was going.

Overall the book was good, but could use a lot of good editing.

3.4 stars for me. I want to round up to four, but just can't. Three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Expected publication Expected publication July 23, 2024.

I wasn't sure how id feel about this book but I ended up really liking it. There were a lot of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen

I feel as confused by Juliet Grames’ The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia as the plot and mess of characters often felt. In 1960, Francesca arrives in the tiny, Italian village to open a nursery school, but she faces challenges beyond the isolation and old-fashioned ideas of the citizens. I love the complicated main character, Francesca, and the old woman, Cicca, whom she lives with and forms an emotional bond with. Grames’ world-building astounds as she creates this dream-like village in the Calabrian mountains that time forgot. But good grief, the quantity of unnecessary characters burdened with perplexing names — and nicknames! — that makes the convoluted plot lines almost unfollowable. Readers unafraid of this Gordian knot of a novel and seeking an escape into the gorgeous and believable Italian countryside where mysteries abound should try The Lost Boys of Santa Chionia.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview The Lost Boy of Santa ChIona. This is different. Set in Italy an American woman finds herself solving the mystery.
With many colorful characters and some romance this novel takes you to a past that had me feeling melancholy and humor at the same time.
Different and unique. 3 stars

This was a really interesting concept for the mystery genre, it had that puzzle element that I was hoping for and enjoyed from the idea. The characters felt like they were supposed to and enjoyed how good the characters were in this universe. I was engaged with the historical element and worked overall. Juliet Grames has a great writing style and I can't wait to read more.

This story wasn’t really my thing. The premise sounded fascinating, but there was something about the writing style that jarred me. There was nothing wrong with it, just my personal preference.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ebook ARC of this novel.

Francesca Loftfield arrives in the isolated Italian village of Santa Chionia, chomping at the bit to create the nursery school she's been trained to build by a British entity. It's 1960, and the goal is to raise a generation of literate children in an area that has never had a school. She's prepared for a village clinging to a mountain side with no electricity or running water. She's not prepared for massive flooding that will wash out the only bridge connecting Santa Chionia to anything, or that her mission will be derailed by the discovery of a child's body when the flood waters recede.

Soon, Franca is fully embroiled in questions about the skeleton, asked by various villagers because, as an outsider, she can ask these questions. Or can she? Franca finds a surprising collaborator in her cranky landlady and the two of them ask those questions and incur rancor on all sides.

As a "fish out of water," the young American will make you cringe with embarrassment as she runs roughshod over traditions and beliefs, certain that she knows better. She delves into the men who've gone to America, and often vanished. Her sense of superiority is irritating, but the moments when she connects with people in her town are delightful.

Juliet Grames' world building is complete and entrancing, especially when we realize that such a town as Santa Chionia can no longer exist, at least in that form. This novel lacks the shock factor that made "Stella Fortuna" so unforgettable. Still this is a appealing look at a time, place, and attitude that will carry you along to the end of the tale.