In 1945, Will Mills and his fellow soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division scaled Italy’s treacherous Riva Ridge in the frigid night to break through the nearly impenetrable German line of defense. Severely wounded, Will was rescued by Italian partisans and one, a beautiful girl, tended his injuries until he had the strength to rejoin the U.S. troops.
Tormented and haunted by his decisions and actions during wartime, Will knows he has unfinished missions in Italy to complete. The passage of time and years of carrying this unfulfilled need have molded Will into a bitter, angry man.
Seventy-five years later, Will’s spunky thirty-two-year-old neighbor, Sophie Sparke, faces disaster in her life. Everything is going wrong—her job, her love life, even her dog. Part of the problem is that confident and fiercely independent Sophie lets her quick mouth get her into trouble.
Grouchy, mean-spirited Will finagles Sophie into traveling with him to Tuscany to find the partisan who saved his life. Will also secretly hopes to confront the demons his wartime actions created. Sophie and Will comb enchanting Tuscan hill towns on an improbable and unfolding mission with few clues to aid them. Will’s passionate tenacity drives their quest and in the process exposes their darkest secrets. The journey alters the course of their lives, and Will and Sophie find more than they had imagined in the hills of Tuscany.
PAT'S REVIEW
| This book for me turned out to be a wonderful story on many different levels. First, the book opens with a story taken or could be taken out from the history of the 10 Mountain Division and their fight against the Germans in Italy. Just their history alone is something to read about. Then anything about WWII always pecks my interest for my father fought in Europe with the 82nd so I was already drawn to the story. Now you have Sophie present day she lives across from Will Mills who is the tormented man from the 10 Mountain Division. They do not have a good relationship or a relationship at all for she thinks he is just a grumpy old man and never happy. So, after a few too many times of her dog, Bangor not making it all the way outside he comes up with a plan instead of calling to complain. Not knowing until the next day when she sees him standing in his uniform, she drives him to his wife’s funeral. She learns a lot that day. He goes with her another day when she is taking her dog to the vet which surprised her. Then when she quits work which is explained. He talks her into planning and going with him back to Italy. Back to the same place he fought. To help him find Francesca, and also someone else. The trip for her and him are good and they meet interesting people along the way. You will have to read this really good and wonderful story to see if he can find what he is looking for and also how the journey ends for her. How Sophie’s life is also changed which I did not see happening when I started the book. I beautiful story and told as if my grandmother was telling me a story so many, many years ago. A very good book and very much worth the read. I received this book from Netgalley.com. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com |
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