I recently finished reading Saving Madonna by Kate Bristow. This book, which will come out on November 2, is a World War II novel set in Italy. It is based on the true story of a small Italian town’s quest to save artwork during World War II.
My Feelings
This book for me is hard to rate because I both want to love and hate it at the same time. I feel like it starts out really slowly. The first half was a little too slow for my liking. Yet, I knew that it would eventually have to take off. When it took off, the story really took off. There were points when I was really concerned for the characters. I was invested in the story, and I really wanted to know what was going to happen to them.
Warnings to Readers
This is not a book that would be considered a cozy, happy read. There is a little bit of swearing. I’d say one swear word might come on average once every other chapter or every third chapter.
When it comes to sexual content, there were two or three scenes between our two main characters that went a bit farther than I am comfortable reading. These were short, and readers can easily skip ahead. Toward the end of the book, there is also a character who is raped rather violently. The reader is not taken into the room where the rape is taking place, but you know what’s happening. This might be too much for some readers to handle.
When it comes to violence, there are several scenes where characters are shot and killed. This is not described in graphic detail. When it comes to the level of violence, I would put this on the lower end for a World War II book. For me as a reader, the level of violence was not as disturbing as the fact that at times the shooting was abrupt, unexpected, and involved characters who I, as a reader, had bonded with. There are several deaths that readers may find hard to handle. They involve characters that we have come to know throughout the story.
Unique Artwork Story
One thing that I really liked about this book was that it tells a story that I was not familiar with. I’ve seen Monuments Men, so I knew a bit about saving the artwork, but this is about regular citizens risking it all for the artwork. Plus, I’ve read a lot about the French Resistance, but I don’t know a lot about how people in other countries opposed the Germans within their country.
Thoughts on Author’s Note
At the end of the book, the author does talk a bit about her inspiration for the book. I would actually like more information about what was true and what was completely made up by the author. There were a few places where I wondered if the event really took place as part of this story or if the author decided to include it simply as a demonstration of what was happening within German-occupied areas during World War II. I am particularly interested in learning more about the deaths of characters. One in particular bothers me if it wasn’t based on historical fact.
