The Garden of Angels
by David Hewson
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date 18 Aug 2022 | Archive Date 18 Aug 2022
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Description
When a Jewish classmate is attacked by bullies, fifteen-year-old Nico just watches - earning him a week's suspension and a typed, yellowing manuscript from his frail Nonno Paolo. A history lesson, his grandfather says, and a secret he must keep from his father.
Nico is transported back to the Venice of 1943, an occupied city seething under the Nazis, and to the defining moment of his grandfather's life: when Paolo's support for a murdered Jewish woman brings him into the sights of the city's underground resistance. Hooked and unsettled, Nico can't stop reading - but he soon wonders if he ever knew his beloved grandfather at all.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781838857707 |
| PRICE | £9.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 448 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Aria H, Reviewer
I really enjoyed this book, well written with a riveting storyline and well developed characters. I loved the mystery and suspense elements, I loved the dual timeline and historical elements. I loved it.
Greville W, Reviewer
This was a fine book exquisitely written and well plotted that ranged between the present and the past and provided a beautiful and detailed picture of occupied Venice in the second world war. Original and heartbreaking at times, this was an excellent read.
Sarah F, Reviewer
I finished this book so quickly as I couldn't put it down. I was drawn in by the story Nonno Paolo was telling his grandson and it has stayed with me ever since I finished reading it. It was beautifully written.
The twist in the book shocked me, I did not see that coming!
I don't think enough words will do this book justice, you just need to read it. Heartbreakingly beautiful.
Wallace L, Reviewer
What starts as a seemingly mundane story of a young boy suspended from school after a school colleague was beaten up by another boy quickly develops into a beautiful tale of wartime Venice. Visiting his Grandfather in hospital he is entrusted with a series of pages detailing his Grandfather’s wartime history. A times brutally violent but always eloquent and fascinating it has a cast of characters whose bravery shines through despite the brutal treatment meted out by both occupiers and local traitorous collaborators alike. The twist in the tale provides a clever ending to this superb novel.
Reviewer 747547
A beautiful story of family, bravery, betrayal, and love, set predominantly in Venice during WWII and framed by a present-day narrative.
The plot moved at just the right pace and had me gripped throughout. Most of all, though, I loved the characters: the courageous members of the resistance, with their selflessness towards both friends and strangers across class and religious lines, even the "half-traitor" local police officer collaborating with the Nazis for painfully understandable reasons. Last but not most certainly not least, the city of Venice was brought to life, as vividly as any of the characters, coming alive through her inhabitants and the excellent (and never overdone) descriptions: "The city on the water ... a gilded prison too beautiful for the horrors Italy was seeing elsewhere" ... "the louche old lady of the lagoon."
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