" A grey dawn in 1943: on a street in Rome, two young women, complete strangers to each other, lock eyes for a single moment.
One
of the women, Chiara Ravello, is about to flee the occupied city for
the safety of her grandparents' house in the hills. The other has been
herded on to a truck with her husband and their young children, and will
shortly be driven off into the darkness.
In that endless-seeming
moment, before she has time to think about what she is doing, Chiara
makes a decision that changes her life for ever. Loudly claiming the
woman's son as her own nephew, she demands his immediate return; only as
the trucks depart does she begin to realize what she has done. She is
twenty-seven, single, with a sister who needs her constant care, a
hazardous journey ahead of her, and now a child in her charge - a child
with no papers who refuses to speak and gives every indication that he
will bolt at the first opportunity.
Three decades later, Chiara
lives alone in Rome, a self-contained, self-possessed woman working as a
translator and to all appearances quite content with a life which
revolves around work, friends, music and the theatre. But always in the
background is the shadow of Daniele, the boy from the truck, whose
absence haunts her every moment. Gradually we learn of the havoc wrought
on Chiara, her family and her friends by the boy she rescued, and how
he eventually broke her heart. And when she receives a phone call from a
teenage girl named Maria, claiming to be Daniele's daughter, Chiara
knows that it is time for her to face up to the past.
This epic
novel is an unforgettably powerful, suspenseful, heartbreaking and
inspiring tale of love, loss and war's reverberations down the years. "
Estimated non-UK postage
costs by signed for airmail delivery - Europe £13, US/Canada £17, Aus/NZ £18.
Additional books can always be added to a combined order for an additional
postage cost based on extra 0.25kg bands of weight, with an extra postage cost
per extra 0.25kg of £1.20 for Europe / £2.00 everywhere else - please contact if
any questions.
Multiple items - Please review my other
listings to see if there are any other items which are of interest to you. I
will be pleased to provide a suitable invoice for combined postage cost for 2 or
more items. If you have won an item and intend to bid on any other items which
end on different days, I would be grateful if you would drop me a message.
Postage – All of my books are
triple wrapped for delivery to maximise their safety -
firstly in bubble wrap protection, secondly in either a padded envelope or a
cardboard box, and finally in thick parcel paper.
For UK mainland - all items above a fairly modest value I
will send via either signed for Royal Mail and/or courier options whichever is
the best, this being largely dependent on the weight of the object.
I am more than happy to post overseas on the basis that
all items will be posted by Airmail with a signature required on delivery. If
you are overseas, please feel free to enquire about postage charges ahead of
registering a bid if you are unsure of the cost I may have outlined above, where
costs may be prohibitive depending upon where you are in the world and the
weight of the item, many thanks.
Feedback – I will be delighted to
provide feedback for a winning bidder once they have done so first to ensure
that the item has arrived safely. In the event a winning bidder has any queries
around a product following receipt, I would be pleased to deal with any queries
via my business e-mail address (markr9884@hotmail.co.uk) or the Ebay
message function in an effort to resolve matters ahead of any mutual feedback
being provided, thanks.
Many
thanks for looking at my items and good luck with any bids you make.
I
will be regularly listing items for sale, please save me as one of your
favourite sellers for the future,
thanks.