THE ITALIAN DAUGHTER by Soraya Lane

 

MY THOUGHTS

This is a book you don't want to miss. If you love reading you will love this one. 

This book is so good. It's a dual timeline which I typically love. It's a double love story. I don't tend to read love stories but this one was great. It was much more than just a love story. It had so many emotions going on. 

It starts out with a woman telling a man to wait. Wait and ask her when he is truly free. He wants to marry her. It's 1946. Estee and Felix are young and mad about each other. But he's promised to another. Since he was a young child he has been promised in marriage to another. His family is wealthy. Estee is an up and coming ballerina. She will be famous one day. But his family does not think she is good enough. 

Life gives them plans that they may not like. It takes a turn that Estee does not expect. Never saw coming. How can she be expected to go on after all she's been through. Will they ever find their way back. Will they ever be the happy couple they were meant to be. Estee has a huge secret. How can they ever be happy. 

Present day we meet Lily and then Antonio. Lily found a letter from a lawyer that sets her on a path to solve a mystery. The mystery of her grandmother's adoption. She meets Antonio and they sort of get together. He has some things from his past that make him stand back from a relationship. But he helps Lily find what she's looking for. She has two clues that will lead her hopefully to find out who her grandmother's family were. 

The timelines are intersecting through the story but not in a way that you think. When they do come together it made me actually have tears flowing. Some in a good way and some in a bittersweet sad way. Things have a way of going there own way even if we think they should be different. This author did a fantastic job with this book. She pulls you in and keeps you hanging on for dear life. Keeps you wanting to know more. Rooting for a these couples to find happiness. For a child to be happy. Content and well loved. How these two couples are related was beautiful. This book is beautiful. It's a sad story in many places but full of a deep love that transcends all the odds too. 

Would you walk away from your family and money for love? That would be hard but doable. In my opinion it would be doable. I loved this book from start to finish and I look forward to more from this author. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #SorayaMLane, #Bookouture for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

5 huge stars and you have to read this one. It's so good.

SYNOPSIS

Italy, 1946. “Estee, I bought this ring years ago and have kept it safe ever since. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.” She reached for Felix’s hand and gently closed it over the box. “No,” she whispered. “I want you to propose only when you’re truly free.”

Estee always believed that she would spend her life with her childhood sweetheart Felix. But when her incredible gift for dance gave her the opportunity to move to a big city and provide for her mother, she knew she had to sacrifice her happiness for her family’s future and a chance at a better life.

But years later, in a city of over a million people, Felix finds Estee. Due to marry the daughter of a prominent family, he is prepared to sacrifice everything to be with the love of his life. But Estee knows what is at stake: his family’s love and his livelihood could be lost forever if she says yes. Can she really follow her heart if it means him losing everything?

London, present day: Lily clutches a faded piece of paper in her hands, knowing that her life will never be the same again. Whilst grieving for her late father, she is told that her grandmother was born in a home for unmarried mothers, the only clues to her past contained on a handwritten Italian recipe and an old theatre programme.

Desperate for answers, Lily accepts a job on an Italian vineyard – a dream her father once shared. Lily receives a warm welcome from the owner’s charming son Antonio and as they chat long into the night, Antonio offers to help her discover her family’s heritage.

But arriving in Estee and Felix’s village, Lily unearths a tragic love story which has the power to change her future. As she unravels the truth of her own legacy, she begins to fall for Italy and for Antonio. Can Lily give up everything she has ever known to rebuild her life or will the risk of heartbreak force her home?