5-STAR REVIEW: SAVING MADONNA by Kate Bristow

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SAVING MADONNA by Kate Bristow About The Book

Publication Date: November 2, 2023

Is a painting worth dying for?

Inspired by real events, an unforgettable story of love, courage and sacrifice to save a country’s heritage.

Italy 1943. As the Allies bomb Milan, Elena Marchetti reluctantly gives up her coveted job as an art curator in the city to return to her family farm near Urbino. She takes up a new role assisting Pasquale Rotondi, the Superintendent of Arts in the region, in protecting works of art from all over Italy that have been hidden in the relative safety of the countryside.

At a family celebration, Elena reunites with Luca, a close childhood friend. A shattering event instigated by the occupying Germans deepens their relationship, and they start planning a life together. When rumors surface that Italy’s art is being stolen by the German occupiers, Pasquale hatches an audacious plan to rescue the priceless paintings in his possession. Elena and Luca are forced to make an impossible decision: will they embark on a dangerous mission to save Italy’s cultural heritage?

Excerpt

The Review

With the German occupation of Italy, residents found themselves taking on unexpected roles.

Author Kate Bristow highlights the efforts of Pasquale Rotundi and others to preserve works of art from being confiscated. Her book, Saving Madonna, is inspired by real events and people.

It also serves as a cautionary tale regarding the many battles raging today, where historic buildings and culture are being destroyed. Efforts by people such as Pasquale serve as an example of how valuable culture is.

Using two families as the focal point, the author illustrates the challenges of living in an occupied area. Young Elena has a passion for art and yearns to be a curator. She joins Pasquale in creating a network for hiding the art and maintaining an inventory.

The horrors of war play out within the story, especially as German soldiers brutally interact with the Italians. Through love and loss, Elena fulfills her mission to take care of the art.

Saving Madonna tells the story of brave Italians who defy the Germans by protecting their valuable culture.

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About The Author

Kate Bristow was born in London. She fell in love with reading when she got her first library card at the age of four. Her first attempt at writing and publishing for a wide audience was a local newspaper typed laboriously at home on her mother’s typewriter while at primary (elementary) school in north London. It is surely a loss to cutting-edge journalism that only one issue was ever produced. Kate divides her time between her small-but-perfectly-formed modern home in Los Angeles and her five-hundred-year-old farmhouse just outside Sassocorvaro in Italy.