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Isabella Berotti is an architect, helping to create showpieces that will reflect the glory of her country’s Fascist leaders. She is not a deeply political sort, but designing these buildings of grandiose beauty helps her forget about the pain she’s felt since her husband was murdered years ago. One of her greatest accomplishments is the clock tower in the town of Bellina, outside Rome.
But as she is admiring it one day, a woman approaches her, asking her to watch her ten-year-old daughter. Minutes later, to Isabella’s horror, the woman leaps to her death from that very clock tower.
There are photos of the woman right after the suicide, taken by Roberto Falco. A propaganda photographer for Il Duce, he is expected to show his nation in the most flattering light. But what Roberto and Isabella have seen reflects a more brutal reality, and in a place where everyone is watching and friends turn on friends to save themselves, their decision to take a closer look may be a dangerous mistake.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 6, 2015 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780698196339
- File size: 877 KB
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780698196339
- File size: 877 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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October 15, 2015
In 1932, some 10 years after her husband was shot and killed in front of her, Isabella Berotti has rebuilt her life. Now an architect on the team building Bellina, a new city for the glory of Mussolini, she is unaware that her life is about to change again. A woman approaches her in a cafe and begs her to watch her daughter, Rosa, for just a moment, then shockingly commits suicide. Isabella is horrified for Rosa, and the encounter raises questions about her own past as well. The town's leaders warn Isabella not to interfere, but a desire to know the truth and a fear for Rosa's safety spur her to a level of insubordination that is not likely to go unpunished in a fascist state. Aided by Bellina's handsome and rebellious official photographer, Isabella goes in search of answers but uncovers more than she bargained for. In this tense romantic thriller, Furnivall clearly intimates the atmosphere of fear and distrust that characterized fascist Italy while painting a picture of the beautiful countryside and ancient past.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
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