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.