The Lost Gift to the Italian Island: Unputdownable and heart-wrenching World War Two historical fiction (Sisters of War Book 2) by Barbara Josselsohn

Author:Barbara Josselsohn [Josselsohn, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781837908431
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2023-12-03T16:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

MAY 2019

Tuesday

With nearly five hours to go before she would meet Emilio, Tori set out to discover more about the Parissis, her ancestors. She went back up the grand staircase and proceeded through the long hallway, past the room with the wedding dress and toward the other galleries on that floor. One was devoted to the origins of the castle in the late 1600s, when the then patriarch of the family, Gustavo Parissi, purchased the island and commissioned a Florentine architect to design the vast structure. And another gallery centered on Patricio Parissi, who headed the Parissi family when Giulia and her sisters lived in the castle. Known variously as an inventor, hermit, and benefactor, Patricio extended dozens of invitations to the greatest artists, scientists, and writers of his day. According to the display, he was also a generous employer, encouraging his guests to serve as mentors to members of his household staff who showed interest and promise.

Tori read all of the information in frames and on signs posted to walls, fascinated by the story of this unusual man. It seemed inconceivable to her that she was a descendant of such a wealthy family. She’d grown up modestly, in the small house where she still lived, her life nothing like the ones these relatives evidently had led. It was almost frightening, the disconnect between who she was and who her grandmother had been. While she recognized how much Marilene had given up to save Olive from a life with strangers, she nevertheless thought again how wrong Marilene had been to keep all this to herself. Yes, Marilene had her own reasons, her own awful memories, that led her to behave as she did. And the truth was, many people didn’t find out about their heritage until later in life. There were so many television shows and articles these days about people—often celebrities—who studied their genealogy and discovered all kinds of surprising relatives from their past. Gangsters sometimes, or heads of state, or other strange and unexpected characters.

But she wasn’t a celebrity. She was a thirty-six-year-old single mother who suddenly was chasing ghosts and starting to feel that if she looked in the mirror, she wouldn’t even recognize herself. A woman whose only friend at this moment was a seventy-something man who was about to break the rules as a favor.

And though it didn’t make sense, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her grandmother—the biological one, Giulia—was throwing obstacles in her path. Daring her to continue, hoping she’d be intimidated. So she wouldn’t have to face Tori and explain herself.

It’s not going to work, Giulia, she thought. You’re not going to scare me away.

The last exhibit in the room was the saddest of all. It had framed posters that described how the Nazis had invaded Parissi Castle, and how those who weren’t able to escape were either killed or arrested and sent to the mainland to eventually be deported to concentration camps. Along one wall, a row of tiny crystal vases

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.