I’m reviewing Casa Paradiso – 300 Years in the Life of a House, a beautiful collection of short stories all taking place in the same location #blogtour #histfic

Here’s the blurb

Lombardy, Northern Italy, 1637

Cristó Lovetta, a skilled stonemason, arrives in the rural village of Pieve Santa Clara to work on a nobleman’s house.

Haunted by a tragic past, Cristó wonders if he will ever find happiness again. However, as he immerses himself in his work, the warmth of the community and the beauty of the landscape convince him to begin a new life there.

Cristó designs and builds his own house, which he names Casa Paradiso. Over the centuries, Casa Paradiso becomes home to many generations, standing testament to lives beginning and ending, and witnessing the everyday challenges and triumphs of its inhabitants – from love lost and found, to the tragedies of war, the far-reaching consequences of political decisions made by powerful men and the evolving role of women in Italian society.

Casa Paradiso – the fourth instalment of the Paradiso Novels – is a shining, evocative saga spanning three hundred years in the life of a very special house, and a book that explores the enduring strength of the human spirit, contrasted with the transient nature of life itself.

Purchase Link

https://geni.us/CasaParadiso

My Review

Casa Paradiso is such an engaging collection of stories, all interlinked, and all taking place with the same house as it’s main character.

The reader is swept through tale after tale, century after century, in the life of the house. Not all of our characters are immediately likeable, and not all of the tales are happy, and some of them truly make sense with the poignancy of retrospection for the next people to live within the property.

A truly charming collection of stories that drive you through the centuries, even though, sometimes, you might like to linger in one particular tale.

A fabulous idea, beautifully executed.

Meet the author

Francesca Scanacapra was born in Italy to an English mother and Italian father, and her childhood was spent living between England and Italy. Her adult life has been somewhat nomadic with periods spent living in Italy, England, France, Senegal and Spain. She describes herself as ‘unconventional’ and has pursued an eclectic mixture of career paths – from working in translation, the fitness industry, education and even several years as a builder. In 2021 she returned to her native country and back to her earliest roots to pursue her writing career full time. Francesca now resides permanently in rural Lombardy in the house built by her great-grandfather which was the inspiration for her Paradiso Novels: Paradiso, Return to Paradiso, The Daughter of Paradiso and Casa Paradiso. Her novel The Lost Boy of Bologna was also published by Silvertail Books. 

 

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