****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This was the third book I have read by Belinda Alexandra, and my favourite so far. Drawing on many dramatic themes, the story starts when a mysterious stranger leaves a newborn baby girl at a convent in Florence - the only clue to her identity is a silver key. The child is named Rosa and grows up in the convent, to be sent away as a governess when she is 15. Here she first encounters her life-long nemesis, the cold mysterious mistress of the villa, and Rosa soon learns that life is tough for a poor and friendless orphan, particularly a girl. Rosa must survive on her talents and her uncanny knack for friendship with people who are willing to give her a central place in their lives. Her life takes on numerous twists of fortune, and gradually becomes less about an orphan girl's quest for family and security, and more of a personal insight into Italy's struggle against Mussolini's destructive grip and the pervasive threat of Nazism.One of the things I loved about the book was that I couldn't predict where Rosa would end up next - she lived in a wide range of environments, both peaceful and violent, elegant and harsh - so I don't want to give too much away about the plot. Despite the extremely dramatic nature of the story, Rosa's character develops strongly and logically as she comes to terms with the contradiction in her values when she is directly faced with the violence of war. One plot line follows her quest to find out her identity - my only criticism of the book is that there is one plot twist too many - the story made more sense when I decided the final twist was a lie by a desperate woman. Otherwise the story lost its logic and became too convoluted in retrospect.Apart from that, the extreme drama in the last quarter of the book seemed like a realistic depiction of a country falling apart during wartime. There is a satisfying love story, with Rosa torn between the two very different men who love her, and can offer her very different things. The book is meticulously researched and well-paced, as Rosa's life is gradually consumed by the war around her.I will definitely read this book
