I’ve read numerous books set in Italy. Particularly those which incorporate history, especially around the wars. I never felt immersed with this book. The idea and content are there - but often times the writing just doesn’t flow. It almost seems frequently stilted. Every time I would start to feel pulled in by the story, the writing pushed me back out. Perhaps, this is just a matter of personal preference, but in my opinion the way it’s narrated, etc., could be significantly improved upon, which would allow the story to shine.

"With family we too often express our irritation and too rarely our appreciation. And yet we relentlessly go out of our way to be polite to strangers."
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"Polite words, he learns, are often used to express rudeness."
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"I would guess the public facade of most families is a construction of sentimental half-truths, Sometimes I think to learn an adult perspective on life is simply to become good at telling lies, mostly of a flattering nature and mostly to oneself."
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One thing I really loved about this book is the writing style. I adored it.
Although it wasn't action packed, The war in Venice illustrated loss, tragedy, sacrifice, misunderstandings, relationships, not just romantical, but familial also, in such a beautiful way. It is a story set in 1940-1945 Italy during the Second World War
Thank you Net Galley for the arc :)

A lyrical novel, where Venice itself feels like a living character. I never knew about the beginning of fascism and of Jewish discrimination in Italy, so that was an interesting aspect to read about!

This book is typical of a well written historical fiction novel. First, it taught me a great deal about Italy, and especially Venice, during WWII. I learned more about how Jews were treated. Poor Marcello, a young non practicing Jew who was sent to safety in London at the beginning of the war, was cruelly returned to Italy by Great Britain when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany. He ended up dying in some camp towards the end of the war. I was reminded again of how many Jews were lost not just because of Hitler, but because of the refusal of the Allied countries to protect them, even when they had the opportunity to. I was also reminded of how powerless we all are against the actions of our own governments. No matter how we might feel personally against their policies, their is little we can do to fight them. And I was reminded of how as individuals, we can live a life quietly hiding our true selves; or boldly showing the world who we really are and what we really feel and believe. My only criticism of this book is in the author’s writing style. Until I adjusted, I wondered if this was written originally in another language and translation into English was why the writing sometimes feels so…unnatural?…to me. However, I’ve been unable to find anything about the author that would answer that question. Regardless, anyone who enjoys reading about WWII will want to add this book to their collection.

Princess Fuzzypants here: The book begins with a former student of a deceased artist who wants to salvage her mentor’s works. The artist Elisabetta has touched the woman in ways she has failed to do with almost everybody in her life. The story then shifts back to Venice in 1938 where we meet three young people, Elisabetta, Fausto- a man of many faces, none of them true, and Marcello- a Jew with whom Elisabetta has crossed signals so that they are never allowed to explore their unrequited love for each other. It is Fascist Italy and while things do not deteriorate greatly until Mussolini joins Hitler in the Axis, theirs would have been a forbidden love.

Elisabetta is subservient to her controlling father. He then bargains her away to a Fascist bureaucrat she despises. They oddly form a comfortable truce but she never forgives her father for his betrayal. When it appears the vise is tightening for the Jews, Marcello is sent to London but upon the declaration of war, he is sent back to Italy, right into the viper’s nest. The three lives are entwined as each experiences the war from differing perspectives. The only constant for them is the city itself. It remains almost untouched.

It is an evocative and poignant story of missed opportunity, of cruelty and kindness and of how people so seldom get the lives they expect. The challenge, for them as for the reader, is how well they handled what is then placed in front of them. For our three there is no happy ending. There is a longing for what might have been but never could be. Five purrs and two paws up.

Well written historical fiction. The arrival of the Nazis in Venice affects the lives of Elisabetta, Fausto and Marcello. The courage to survive against the brutality of the German invasion tests these young people in ways they had never imagined. Recommended reading.

A poignant, slow burner of a romance, that is set in war torn Venice. Elisabetta assists her father in his paintings. She buys paint, prepares the canvas, but is not allowed to paint. Her father specialises in portraits done in the style of the Old Masters, and he believes that only he has the necessary skills, and probably doesn’t want to acknowledge that his daughter could be as clever as, or better as he is.
She collects the art materials from a shop owned by a Jewish family, and the son , Marcello has strong feelings for Elisabetta , but she only sees him as a friend. Marcello works on the canals to help support his family, his sister Guilia is ill with consumption , now known better as Tuberculosis. Under the rule of the Nazi Party, and with restrictions upon Jewish businesses, Marcello eventually finds himself in the West End of London, where he works as a barrow boy, before training as a Air Raid Warden.
Back in Venice, Elisabetta, once her father died, is now painting. She paints a portrait of the two siblings, and continues to keep alive the heritage of portrait and figure painting in Venice. Despite having many students, she is not popular, she is severe in her judgements about their talents, and dies almost penniless.
It is a romantic story about a downtrodden woman, who meets the wrong man, but does find happiness later. The descriptions of life under the Nazi Regime is well researched and written. The depth of suffering experienced by the Jews is still staggering so many decades onwards. Venice appears so serene throughout this story, her head is always high in the clouds, the Catholic Church colluded with the oppression of these groups, but the main emphasis is upon art and the sensations it conveys.
I enjoyed this read. It started slowly and gradually draws the reader inwards. Art for Art’s sake indeed.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Cheyne Walk for my digital copy in exchange for my unbiased review. I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon.

This wonderful novel starts out in Venice during the 60’s with Kate searching for a lost painting painted during WWII by her art teacher, who has passed away. Will she be able to locate the painting, and if so, who has it?

This novel takes us on a journey to war torn Venice where the fascists are cruelly hindering the lives of the Jews who are trying peacefully to stay out of harm’s way and to survive.
The characters include Kate's art teacher, Elisabetta, who is yearning to be able to paint but is only allowed to assist her father, a painter, who aids the secret fascist police. Not until she is married is she able to begin painting. Marcello and Giulia, Jewish siblings, whose father owns an art supply store where Elisabetta purchases her father’s supplies. Fausto, a want to be actor, who has no option other than to begrudgingly work for the secret fascist police rather than take on a lowly job to stay alive.

Haybittle has penned an intriguing and harrowing novel that tugs at the heart and makes you ache for Marcello as he desperately tries to woo Elisabetta, who seems to just want to be friends. Not until she is forced into marriage to an elderly fascist senior officer does her heart soften to Marcello. This is when she paints a beautiful rendition of him with his sister whom she must draw from memory since Giulia has passed away.

This novel grabs your heart and takes it on a roller coaster ride as you empathize with Marcello and Elisabetta and what could have been as well as despising Fausto for being the weasel that he is. A wonderful read that will stay with you long after you close the cover.

My thanks to #NetGalley and Cheyne Walk for the arc of this novel. This opinion and review are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. I have read lots of books set during World War Two featuring the Nazis but this one with a difference. Well written with a compelling storyline and well dveeloped characters and a good setting. I loved the art element of the story.