Daughters of Italy: Book 3
Publication Date: April 28, 2026
Italy, 1945. As war rages through Europe, a crumbling family villa that becomes a vital safe space for the people of Cortona during the war. But that sanctuary is lost the day its owner, Vivi, mysteriously vanishes…
Manhattan, 1953. Francesca feels smothered by lace as she tries on wedding dresses in an uptown boutique. Can she really start a new life with her fiancé without first answering the questions she has about her childhood in Italy? Confronted with the news that the bougainvillea-covered villa she grew up in is for sale, and the lavish gardens her father designed and cultivated are destined to be razed, she buys a plane ticket and doesn’t look back. She can’t stand by and watch it all turn to rubble.
Fran chokes back a sob as she finds the gardens wild and overgrown and the once-pristine follies crumbling under the baking sun. But the lingering scent of the Italian basil from the kitchen garden brings Fran closer to the father she lost. To save this sacred space she must uncover what really happened when Vivi disappeared.
But while standoffish locals treat Fran like an outsider, she knows she is closing in on a secret at the very heart of the gardens she ran barefoot through as a young girl; a tragic love triangle that plagued the villa, defied the authorities, and might change everything Fran thinks she knows about who she is. One thing is certain: what happened to Vivi was no accident.
And just when Fran thinks she’s uncovered a truth that will shake the little village of Cortona to its foundations, she discovers a letter that changes everything once again. Can Fran find a way to save the gardens before they are destroyed? Or will she be forced to return home to a future in New York that no longer fits?
From bestselling author Ella Carey comes an utterly heart-wrenching and gripping World War Two historical novel that will transport you straight to the Tuscan countryside. Fans of Kathryn Hughes, Fiona Valpy and Victoria Hislop will be utterly enchanted.
**Each Daughters of Italy book can be read as part of the series or as a standalone**
Amid the lush backdrop of an Italian villa, love and loss combine in merging timelines.
Author Ella Carey serves up the third installment in the Daughters of Italy series with The Tuscan Villa. At the center is Vivi Carmichael, an American who finds forbidden love at the Villa Aria.
To build the story, the author alternates between the late 1930s at the villa and 1953 in New York. With danger mounting about war, young Francesca is sent to the United States for safety. With Vivi’s sudden disappearance, the villa eventually falls into the hands of an artist who plans to bulldoze the picturesque gardens.
Fast forward 14 years, and Francesca breaks off her engagement in order to return to her beloved gardens and find answers about what happened to Vivi.
The shifting timeline creates some confusion regarding the proper sequence. This requires readers to pay close attention to determine whether it is the past, the recent past, or the present. Another notable point is that while there is content leading up to the war, there’s not much development about the villa being used to house children during it.
The plot twist connecting the two timelines was quite intriguing and added a perfect touch. Francesca’s interactions with the artist tease at a potential connection in the future.
The Tuscan Villa offers a story focusing on a young woman’s search for answers.
Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of The Things We Don’t Say, Secret Shores, From a Paris Balcony, The House by the Lake, and Paris Time Capsule. Her books have been published in over fourteen languages, in twelve countries, and have been shortlisted for ARRA awards. A Francophile who has long been fascinated by secret histories set in Europe’s entrancing past, Ella has degrees in music, nineteenth-century women’s fiction, and modern European history. She lives in Melbourne with her two children and two Italian greyhounds who are constantly mistaken for whippets.
Ella loves to connect with her readers regularly through her facebook page and on her website.
