Last Voyage of the Valentina

Santa Montefiore's Last Voyage of the Valentina is a voyage for the reader to a different time and place.  It is an emotional journey, with ups and downs, but yet a very light and easy read.  There is intrigue and romance, murder and adventure, all wrapped up in a coming of age story for a young woman who has some serious growing up to do.

Alba Arbuckle does not know her mother.  That is because she died soon after Alba was born.  Her father, doing what he thought was right, took her away from her mother's world back to England with him, and protected her from the past by not telling her about who her mother was.  It was in the 40s, after the war, and a man did not raise a child alone.  So he remarried and built a life for himself and his daughter.  But, Alba grows up feeling like she doesn't belong in her father's new family.  She thinks her stepmother is awful, is apathetic to her step siblings, and is angry with her father for keeping her mother from her.  As a result, she lives a licentious life, spending her father's money, entertaining many boyfriends, trying to rebel against the proper life her father and stepmother have built.

Then things change.  She finds a portrait of her mother that her father drew.  She produces it for her father and demands answers that he is still unwilling to share.  Buoyed by a new friend and lover, she decides to find the answers for herself.  The reader is then transported back and forth between 1940s Italy when Alba's parents meet and fall in love, and Alba's journey discovering her extended family and herself during the present day (1971).  As the reader takes this journey with Alba, we are left hopeful that when she finally learns the truth about her mother, she will see the truth of her father, as well, and that the discoveries she makes will heal old wounds for both of them.

Through all of the intrigue surrounding Alba's parents, there are two lovable characters from her life helping her along the way: Fitzroy and Viv.  These two characters bring humor and romance into the novel.  The reader is rooting for Fitz and Alba to make something of their romance, for Alba to grow up a little, and for a happy ending. 

The descriptions of the places and of the time are exceptional.  I could smell the lemon groves, salt air and figs and see the beautiful Amalfi coast.  Santa Montefiori weaves a story that is really two tales in one and is able to incorporate the intrigue right along with the romance.  While the reader may not get the ending they are expecting, the ending is a fitting one for the story.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it highly.

Happy Reading!