What a lovely story !! And the way Venice is described, anyone will fall in love with the city.
As I reached the point where Juliet is pregnant with Leo’s child, I had no clue who the child would turn out to be. Many authors leave clues early on but Rhys Bowen manages to keep the suspense alive.
The parallel narration of how Caroline inherits the house with spectacular views, that Juliet lived in and how Leo gifted it is brilliant.
Juliet and Leo’s love story brings out the sad reality of several marriages – you marry for money, family reasons and even business considerations but rarely for true love. And this happens all over the world it seems. Leo marrying Bianca despite being in love with Juliet was purely a business decision 😊.
Caroline is Juliet’s grand niece and just when Caroline’s marriage is about to fall apart, she receives Juliet’s gift of three keys and a 1000 pounds, with cryptic clues about Venice. Caroline decides to scatter her grand aunt’s ashes in her favourite city and the whole story flips between 1938 and 2001.
Rhys Bowen writes beautifully without confusing the reader as she tells the story across two timelines. I just felt the end was a bit hurried and it’s left to the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks. Will Caroline marry Luca, Leo’s grandson ?
Also in a new way Caroline’s life is a repeat of Juliet’s life with the only difference being that Juliet was in love with Leo and doesn’t marry him. Caroline marries Josh but there is not much love!! Both are art teachers and love sketching.
Recommendation – 5/5. A really nice book. For some it may remind them of Danielle Steel, minus the poems.
Kindle Unlimited has suggested Rhys Bowen’s books many times earlier. This is the first book of hers that I have read. Will certainly read more.
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