My, my, my, what a dark and sordid tale of jealousy, desire, and cold-blooded murder this proved to be… and I absolutely loved it. With a down-to-the-bone, spare prose style, so resonant of the American hardboiled noir tradition, and scenes that would not be out of place in a Fellini classic, The White Devil is quite simply perfect in its execution. As we become more deeply entwined with this ice-cold female narrator, Victoria, who slowly reveals her tangled and murderous early history, and the strange dynamics at play in her relationship with her brother Johnny, I began to fear more and more for the unsuspecting individuals whom they set in their sights. The book has the pace and sudden shock value of pure classic Hitchcock, and indeed there is a superb visual quality to Stansberry’s writing, as he leads us amongst the upper echelons of Italian society, the starry world of the movies, and the dimly lit and dangerous streets, that lay behind the glamourous façade of Rome.

In addition, Stansberry draws on themes of politics, religion, and money, drawing on the marked differences, and frames of reference, that Victoria and Johnny as Americans abroad harbour, sharply putting into focus their new world gaucheness, and drive to succeed at any cost, both to themselves or others. I loved the style of Stansberry’s writing, both in its tautness, and, at times, supreme subtlety, and the eminently unlikeable cast of characters with their selfish intentions, or inherent stupidity, exposed as the dastardly Victoria and Johnny inveigle themselves into their world. Woe betide them…

Hardboiled noir to die for. Highly recommended.

A Mixed bag this one. The locations and setting are immaculately done but I'm afraid the plot and writing let it down for me as it felt hurried and scattered.

Vicki Wilson is climbing up the slippery pole of italian high life and wanting marriage and the trappings of a life of privilege. She’s known in Italy as Vittoria so sounds and acts rather better than she is but this is how she wants others to see her and, more importantly, to want her. Sadly, the men who come her way seem to end up dead. There’s no laws or morals where this woman is concerned - or the men of course. There’s even hints of her brother being involved, but I hope I read this wrong.

I was surprised to find out that the story was inspired by the infamous case of Amanda Knox (stated by the author in the afternote) as there’s only a tenuous link there. More likely is the fact that the real life story of Vittoria Accoramboni, a Renaissance figure at the heart of an infamous love triangle back in the times of the Medici family, was probably more likely.

It’s all very cinematic and stylish but take away the scenes, the props and the costumes and the script is lacking in substance. There’s not much to the Italian judicial system either judging by the novel and the religious overtones are loud and clear.

Good but not great.

This is a novelization of John Webster's Renaissance tragedy ' The White Devil' set in modern day Italy. The blurb and concept are enticing, a kind of dark 'La Dolce Vita' peopled by minor film stars, louche aristocrats, assassins and revengers. In reality, though, the book doesn't really live up to expectations: the writing is flat and the characters lack depth, consistency and inner lives. There are instances of non sequiturs, as if chunks have been cut out from the text and the edges left disconnected.

To be fair, Webster's original play is quite messy with too many characters and the lack of a coherent trajectory. Stansberry also pulls off a bold ending which I liked - nevertheless, a book which failed to engage me beyond a very superficial level.

The White Devil feels like a slow descent into hell.
Vittoria is an emotionally blank, affectless woman with a creepy brother called Johnny. They are unnaturally close, and the author stops just short of accusing them of incest. She finds it really hard to say no to him.
Vittoria is married to a much older man called Frank. Johnny is always hanging around. An incident involving Vittoria and Johnny in the past has lead to a mysterious death, which she is strangely incurious about. Frank is a dissolute writer, who relies upon a disapproving uncle for money.
A series of mysterious deaths are strewn throughout the book, each one of them happening around Vittoria. Vittoria appears completely clueless about all of the deaths, and the likelihood of her brother being responsible .
The story leads inexorably towards a grim conclusion in an unknown South American country. The end is pretty inevitable and depressing and left me feeling numb.

I'm afraid I was disappointed with The White Devil. It has won an award and some enthusiastic reviews, but it wasn't for me.

This is a modern re-telling of the 1612 play The White Devil by John Webster, set in 2005, largely in Rome. The narrator, "Vittoria", is a married American woman with a very dubious past in which she and her amoral brother may have been involved in murder and all sorts of other things. She begins an affair with a rich, powerful and corrupt Italian senator, from which gossip, intrigue and death follow; if you are familiar with Webster's play, you'll have an idea of how things play out.

I have to say that for me, the story isn't strong enough to bear this reworking. It's a format which can work very well; some of the current series of Hogarth Shakespeare reworkings – like Shylock Is My Name and Dunbar, for example – have been brilliant, but they have been in the hands of outstanding authors who are working with plays of depth and insight into what it means to be human. With The White Devil, it seems to me that neither the author nor the play fits those descriptions. The writing is decent enough and Stansberry develops an oppressive atmosphere, but there's a curious emotional flatness to the whole thing which may fit the narrator's character but makes for a rather tedious, disjointed and unengaging narrative. Also, something made me a little uneasy about this woman's voice written by a male author. In principle there's nothing wrong with that, but although this is not particularly sexually explicit, the whole thing is steeped in sexuality and for me it's not quite well enough written to be convincing and therefore to avoid being slightly creepy.

Others seem to have found this very good, judging by some of the quoted reviews, but I'm afraid I really can't recommend it.

(My thanks to the publisher, Orion, for an ARC via NetGalley.)