First published 2023
Vincenzo spots Giovanna across a crowded piazza in 1946 Genoa and falls instantly in love. He comes from nobility, she from working class tailors, but their passion ignores social boundaries. They spend stolen hours wandering the city and his family's vineyard, Villa Della Rosa, building dreams of a future together. Then Italy's shifting political landscape forces each to pick a side. The choices they make feel like betrayals to the other, destroying everything they built. Decades later in New York, Cassandra and Luca seem perfectly matched despite their families' reservations. When Luca asks his grandfather and Cass's grandmother to pose for a portrait, the painting session awakens buried memories. The truth about what happened in that Italian vineyard emerges, revealing how the past shaped both their families. The discovery forces Cass and Luca to confront whether love can survive the weight of history and the secrets that defined the generation before them.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Genoa, Italy, New York, Villa Della Rosa
Period: 1946, Decades Later
336 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons