The Girl from Portofino

I loved this book. It was interesting and it told about WW2 from a different perspective, this was a real page turner with its vivid descriptions I could picture Italy with its beauty and its outstanding building. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Turn up the volume on Burt Bacharach’s ‘What The World Needs Now’, pour yourself a prosecco and be swept away to the Italian Riviera in an epic read about the heart-wrenching loss, uplifting courage and untold secrets of Gina, The Girl From Portofino.

Told in dual timeline, mainly 1970 and through a WW2 diary, this book features the adventures of two identical twin sisters; one who fought with the partisans and one who worked for the Germans.

Gina has come home to the resort of Portofino with her 24-year-old daughter, Hope, to attend her father’s funeral. While in her old bedroom, she discovers and reads her twin sister’s diary and is forced to confront her past.

Daiko writes to bring attention to what can happen if we don’t lay our demons to rest. Her inspiration for this book is James Frederick Wilde and escaped British POW who fought with the Italian Resistance. As is always the case with Daiko’s writing, she is able to place readers in the action and with the people of the time. I felt like I was one of the Portofinesi and felt their pain as well as their pride. This is the first book I’ve read that I felt really describes the life of a resistance fighter. Daiko’s research is meticulous.

I am eagerly awaiting book 3 in the Girls From The Italian Resistance series, The Girl From Bologna, which publishes July 1, 2022. If you haven’t read book 1, The Girl From Venice, add it to your TBR list! Daiko is an author you'll want to add to your historical fiction favourites!

I was gifted this advance copy by Siobhan Daiko, BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

The Girl from Portofino is mainly set in stunning Liguria in both 1940s and 1970. Gina is told of her father's unexpected death in Italy so travels with her 24-year-old daughter, Hope, to the funeral. She hasn't been home for many years but settles in quickly as in ways time has stood still. She knows she must face her past as a resistance fighter in WWII. Not only that but she discovers her identical twin sister's true story written in her very personal diary. Wayward Hope has her own feelings about family she meets for the first time. Themes are courage, choices, love, forgiveness and hope.

Portofino is a lovely backdrop and the author's vivid descriptions of the topography , culture and delectable food (and that cover!) took me there in an instant. The story is multi sensory...I could hear the dialect, taste the local dishes and feel the sea air. But the war descriptions are horrific and gut wrenching and I could envision those, too. I like that the author does not gloss over the realities of war.

Other than the descriptions of oft-visited Italy, my favourite aspects of the book are the relationships and the glue which hold people together. Very insightful and thoughtfully written.

Historical Fiction readers, do not miss this wonderful series. I eagerly await the third book which is due to come out in July!

My sincere thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this fascinating book.

What an amazing book you are hooked from the beginning of this WW2 and Italian resistance story. The main characters are great strong characters and it works well in the two timelines, I always love books set in Italy and this period of history and the different choices of the twins definitely adds an extra dimension to the book. Definitely recommended for fans this historical era

A few years ago my husband and I took a cruise with a 12-hour stop in Italy. We booked a private tour of the Amalfi Coast and spent several hours in Portofino. I knew I had to read A Girl from Portofino as soon as I saw the title, as our time in Portofino was the highlight of our trip.

This book had me at Page One. It is beautifully and smoothly written. The vivid descriptions of Portofino invoked wonderful memories of having coffee in the piazza, lunch in a ristorante cut into the mountainside, of the sea, the flowers and so much more.

Siobhan Daiko mastered transitioning from one decade to the other with ease. I know so much about the Holocaust and WWII but had little knowledge of Italy's resistance movement until I read this book. The characters of Gina, her twin sister Adele and Enzo, as well as all of the resistance fighters, are well defined. There wasn't a character I didn't like, except for the horrid Nazis. I was not surprised to read in the authors notes that the key Nazis in this story were "real" men and the atrocities they imposed were as described. The skirmishes and battles waged by the resistance fighters were realistic because they echoed actual events. Enzo/Vinnie, Rosso, Don Rino were inspired by actual members of the Italian resistance movement.

Historical fiction is my favorite genre but I tend to shy away from romantic historical fiction. Although Siobhan Daiko is described as a writer of romantic historical fiction, I found the romantic relationships in this book secondary to the strength, actions and resilience of the resistance movement; especially the women of the movement. The romances are tastefully woven into the story of how the partisans organized and fought for freedom for Italy. Throughout WWII women played critical roles in resistance movements all over Europe, but I had no idea they fought side-by-side with the men in Italy.

The ending was not a surprise. It was a pleasant wrap-up to a riveting story of resistance, determination and survival.

This was such an enjoyable and evocative read. The writing was really good with well developed characters and a great storyline with vivid descriptions that transported the reader to Italy both during the 1970s andduring the second world war. It was a simply stunning read and I couldnt put it down.

As a fan of novels featuring the work of resistance fighters during WW2, this book had great appeal. The partisans in Italy was a new setting so it was interesting to learn of the warring factions in this country. Although set in two time zones, I found this a straightforward and relaxing read. The characters were endearing, as was the love that blossomed between them. Circumstances pulling together people that wouldn’t have met during peacetime there were no real surprises, or cliff-hangers, as the ending was predictable from an early stage. This is very much a story of how love plays such a big part in life .

My thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was totally blown away by this book centred around the Italian resistance fighters during the second world war . The action moves between the war years and 1970 and it brought home to me how close those awful years are to recent memory . The author shows a deep knowledge and love for the Italian country and people and her depictions of Portofino are lovingly drawn. She has also done meticulous historical research and her writing is so raw and powerful I found myself totally emersed in the raw terror ,hardship ,loss and deprivations endured by those heroic fighters and the brave villagers who supported and sheltered them. Woven into the brilliantly crafted story is the tale of a family splintered by the war and reunited 25 years later . I love the use of a diary as a tool to interconnect the past and present. I can't wait to read more of this author's books. Totally enthralling

Good weaving of two eras together with a strong woman at the center🌅

For me, this was a good, sometimes moving, story that largely focuses on twin Italian sisters who end up making huge sacrifices in the latter years of WWII. Author Siobhan Daiko uses a diary recently discovered to link the two eras (1940's and 1970's) together. The technique worked, but the fact that Gina, the lead character, is present in both time periods and central to the action past and present added a lot to the historical story.

A good part of the action moves around the Ligurian countryside with the Italian partisan fighters. There's violence, some pretty graphic, but both sisters also find purpose and love in the midst of their resistance against the Nazis and the Italian Fascisti while awaiting the Allied victory and the end of hostilities.

I enjoyed the novel. This was the first time I've read any of Daiko's work. Although I've read better set in this era, I will be looking for more historical fiction by this author.

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

As soon as I saw the title of this book it had me hooked. Anything to do with the Amalfi Coast, Italy and it being set during the war was a invitation for a great weekend read.
The book is told through two lines 1970 and a WWII diary as it tells the story of identical twins Gina, who was a member of the Partisan resistance and Adele, who worked for the Germans and wrote the diary.
Gina has come home to Portofino with her daughter Hope to attend her father’s funeral and when she finds and reads her sister’s diary she is forced to confront her past.
Love the author’s previous book A Girl From Venice and this new title is another superb read. The author’s beautiful descriptions of Portofino took me back to trips I have made to Italy. Her ability to take you along with the characters adventures is a gifted authors trait. A truly riveting story of bravery, determination and survival.

An interesting book about Italian resistance in WW2. It illustrates what the Italian people did to fight against the Nazi’s by telling the story of fictional freedom fighters as well as how the Italian fascists did to the populace.
#netgalley #siobhandaiko #thegirlfromportofino

Brief synopsis from the book cover:


In 1970, Gina Bianchi returns to the beautiful Italian resort of Portofino to attend her father’s funeral, accompanied by her troubled twenty-four-year-old daughter, Hope.

There, Gina is beset by vivid memories of World War 2, a time when she fought with the partisans and her identical twin sister, Adele, worked for the Germans.

In her childhood bedroom, Gina reads Adele’s diary, left behind during the war. As Gina learns the shocking truth about her sister, she’s compelled to face the harsh realities of her own past.

Will she finally lay her demons to rest, or will they destroy her and the family she loves?

My rating:

Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

Women’s Fiction
Historical Fiction

Review:

I like this book because it gives an interesting historical insight into WWII in Italy and the role of the partisans played in it. The book has strong well developed characters, their actions were well explained and the overall story was nicely written, the story flows well with the right amount of suspense, a bit romance mixed with some of historical facts which created a solid story line and kept it captivating till the end.

The Girl from Portofina by Siobhan Daiko is a beautifully written novel told from two timelines, one in 1970 when a woman and her daughter return to Liguria on the Amalfi Coast of Italy for the woman's father's funeral and the time during WWII when she lived and worked as a resistance fighter. This was a unique take on the war for me, I had never read a story based on the Italian resistance and what they had gone through. Using her sister's diary as a way to show what her sister had gone through during the war was a wonderful device to show that her sister had not lived the life of a traitor as she had always thought, but had worked a different way for the resistance to do her part. The relationships, the misunderstandings, the love and the beauty of Italy shine through in the stunning novel.

Thank you to the author, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Girl from Portofino is perhaps the fourth book that I have read, by Siobhan Daiko. The story focuses on WWII Nazi resistance in Portofino, Italy. The sections that focused on Adelle's life and acts of resistance were especially interesting. I also thought that Gina's life in 1970 was well done. This is not the first book that Daiko has written that focuses on the resistance movements in Italy. Because of have read her previous novel about this topic, Gina's experiences seemed more repetitious to me. However, I suspect that new readers would find them quite compelling, as did I in the first of these books. I had also figured out the central plot device early in the novel, and so when it was revealed later, I was not surprised. In spite of some reservations, I did enjoy reading this novel. I do appreciate that the author and publisher provided me with this ARC and want to thank them. And a big thank you to NetGalley for introducing me to so many new writers.

Another great book from Siobhan Daiko, another great Historical Fiction novel and another great read.

Okay, yes.. I am a huge fan of historical fiction but they do have to grab my attention and keep me reading and this one did just that. This is the story of Gina, the past, the war and her sister Adele. It gets right to the heart and and grabs hold of it. It takes you on a journey through the eyes of two sisters.

This book shows, bravery, love, hardships, loss and so much more. It fills you with emotion, makes you feel as if you know these girls and you know what they have gone through if their lives. Yet it makes you think... Could I get over all the secrets of the past, could I let go of the past?

I love books like this and look forward to reading more from this author and others in the future.

Highly recommend this books to all lovers of Historical Fiction and all lovers of a good read.

The Girl from Portofino is the second in a series about women of the Italian resistance. The narrative follows Gina, the mother of Hope, who she worries about even though she is grown up, back to her hometown of Portofino and memories of the Italian Resistance. She has never brought Hope back to the country of her birth and the story begins to unravel some of the past that holds the mother and daughter apart.
The book is well written with a lot of detailed historical information woven into the plot. I really enjoyed the descriptions all the close combat fighting the partigiani go through and the heroics that they show to try and stop the Nazi onslaught.
The setting is beautifully evoked as well and it whet my appetite for my visit to the Italian Riviera this summer.
The only thing that stopped me giving it 5 stars is that I felt that I could predict the ending - although this didn't stop me enjoying the book overall and I would definitely read more by this author in the future!
Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for an advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was in the genre of historical fiction that I most like, the dual timeline. But in my personal opinion, not enough years had passed for this type to capture my complete interest. The prose was good and I loved the descriptions surrounding the Italian locations. I did enjoy the book overall just probably not enough to read it again. But I will definitely be looking for other books by this author.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.