Watching Over Her by Jean Baptiste Andrea

 My thoughts

This review is a bit harder to write than my usual reads. This book absolutely stole my heart. It touched me in a way that no other book ever has. It's beautifully written and heartbreaking, while at the same time it will give so much more. I laughed, cried, cringed. All the feels and maybe some we never expect. 

I went into this book completely without knowing the first thing about it other than I loved the title and cover. What I got was a lesson in love. Forgiveness. Peace. So much that I honestly can't begin to say it all.

This is told by a very old gentleman who is dying. He's living, well dying, in an Italian Monastery. He's lived there for many years. Before that he was a very poor man. Born a dwarf and abandoned as a young boy by his mother. Yes she did abandon him. She went to find money and it took twenty years for her to finally come back to him. That was not a good choice. But for him maybe it was. 

Michelangelo or Mimo as he liked to be called was a dwarf. He was bullied horribly. He was loved unconditionally. He was lonely even when around others. At times. He worked hard and also drank away his money. But only after he had been let down by the one woman he truly loved. 

Viola. Viola was the daughter of a very rich family. Also a very powerful family. She never wanted to get married and have a family. She wanted to fly. To become a pilot. But her father had different ideas. A female could not do this. She was expected to marry and make their family stronger.

Mimo and Viola met as children in a cemetery of all places. They became fast friends. They were the same age and just hit it off. As they got older Viola grew but Mimo stayed at a little over four feet tall. Viola didn't seem to care at all. Mimo was her friend and that was all that matter. 

Their's is a story to be heard. Though they are seperated many times they are also there for each other. When a tragedy hits it makes Viola see things differently. For some crazy reason she no longer wants to see or hear from Mimo. Mimo goes and works hard. He makes so much money that he doesn't have to worry. But he also drinks to much. 

This book is so beautifully written. It describes the areas and the people so well. The love that Mimo feels for Viola. The anger they both have at times. The fall that makes it impossible for Viola to ever do what she wanted. The hurt. All the emotion you'll feel reading this book. It's definitely one, or the, most beautiful stories I have ever read. 

I started this book and almost didn't keep reading. I still have no idea why. The beginning make me scratch my head. Then it just clicked. This book took my breath away. It's so worth reading.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster for this ARC.  

Five stars 

About

In an Italian monastery, a sculptor named Mimo lays on his deathbed. For decades, he has lived among the monks who watch over his masterpiece, an arresting statue that haunts all who see it.

During his final hours, he reveals his life his impoverished childhood, brutal apprenticeship, and most importantly, his meeting with Viola Orsini, the only daughter of a powerful and dangerous aristocratic family. A chance meeting, Mimo and Viola are instantly drawn to one another, viewing themselves as outsiders—Mimo for his dwarfism, and Viola for her ability to remember everything she has ever read or experienced. Together, they traverse the unrest of the 20th century, from the rise of fascism to the violence of the world wars. While Mimo strives to become a celebrated artist, Viola chases her own dreams of becoming an emancipated woman. Over the decades, they will lose and find each other time and again, but never will they give up on the love they share.

Immersive, moving, and at times hilarious, Watching Over Her is a dynamic love story and timely exploration of the power of creativity during the rise of fascism.