The novel blends personal drama with the wider political and social tensions of its historical setting. How do these external pressures heighten the stakes of the relationships and decisions made within the novel?
The initial Italian invasion set the stage for Billy’s disappearance. Other than this event the surrounding historical events didn’t seem to affect the story. The rise of Mussolini was mentioned but history was left dangling. I wondered how the hotel would survive once WWII began. The author chose to end the time setting prior to an acceleration of war.
I agree that the Italian invasion was key to the story. But other than that, political and social tensions seemed, to me, to be in the background.
I have to say that it was the interweaving of these themes that allowed me to keep reading the book. However, so much more could have been made of them. Particularly, Thirza’s plight as an unwed mother yet she was able to continue her work on putting the home together to attract guests.
I would have liked to have a bit more of the history during that time and how it impacted Emilio’s family in Italy.
Except for the beginning of the novel I didn’t really feel the political significance affected the family much? It was kind of sidelined and in the background the rest of the novel.
The historical context was not a key emphasis. I would have preferred more of it. I do think the author portrayed strong female roles for the time period. 1) Dulcie as a well known writer who bucked her father and uncle to establish her career as well as a woman traveling alone to write her books. Also her ownership of the company and house and unwillingness to be subject to her husband. 2) Thirza as an entrepreneur in her painting as well as establishing Merchant’s as a business. She also applied for a loan to fund her business. Her role as an unwed mother would have made her a social pariah in that day. 3) Penelope had strong organizational skills and stepped up to use them for Merchants and planning events. 4) Finally Magdalena had a very take charge attitude at Merchant House by the end of the book. She was clearly the enforcer. The men followed the leads of the women in this book.
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I actually thought there would be more historical references since the opening was about the Italian invasion, which I knew nothing about. But this book was little more than a soap opera. The opening event jsut set the cause for the disappearance and then it was pretty much dropped.