02/08/2021

At the start of this multigenerational coming-of-age tale from Hewson (the Nic Costa series), Paolo Uccello, the dying patriarch of the House of Uccello, renowned Italian fabric weavers, has a story to tell his 15-year-old grandson, Nico, of his youth in Nazi-occupied Venice. Flashback to 1943. Paolo, then 18 and the newly orphaned owner of the failing family business, agrees to shelter 21-year-old Giovanni “Vanni” and 23-year-old Micaela “Mika” Artom, Jewish brother and sister partisans on the run from the Gestapo. Paolo in return asks for their help to finish weaving a commission for an important client arriving for a large gathering of Nazi VIPs. When Mika learns the client is Salvator Bruno, the infamous “Jew hunter” responsible for her own parents’ deaths, she makes contact with local Resistance fighters and joins their mission to attack the celebration. Paulo finds himself emotionally and physically drawn to Vanni and will go to extraordinary lengths to protect him. A late-page revelation, meanwhile, will have readers gasping in surprise, and Hewson expertly balances tense action and thoughtful emotion. Fans of character-driven WWII thrillers will want to check this out. Agent: Helen Heller, Helen Heller Agency. (Apr.)

"Vivid and compelling. A richly wrought thriller, a love story and a warning that spans decades. I was thinking about this book for days after I'd closed it"

"Gripping and powerful, THE GARDEN OF ANGELS richly evokes the tension and threat of Nazi-occupied Venice. A moving and important novel"

The plot is strong, tense and intricate with an unexpected twist in the tail, and the sense of place is haunting and powerful, but the abiding strength is in the characterisation

Hewson expertly balances tense action and thoughtful emotion. Fans of character driven WWII thrillers will want to check this out - Publishers Weekly

'Full of layers, like a Russian nesting doll … A good read for those who love their World War II thrillers with a bit of history included. Followers of Donna Leon’s “Commissario Brunetti” mysteries may appreciate the atmosphere and the intrigue' - Library Journal

Hewson displays the gifts that distinguish the Costa series: the ability to bring texture and humanity to multiple characters and to explore significant moments in history through the microcosm of those characters' lives - Booklist

If you only read one book this year, read this one. Its essential truth about what happened in WWII and about what is happening now will both chill and inspire you. It's also a damn good story featuring fantastic characters - one of which is Venice herself

Gripping and powerful, The Garden of Angels richly evokes the tension and threat of Nazi-occupied Venice. A moving and important novel

With a gallery of wonderful characters on both sides of the fence and never flinching from the atrocities committed by all parties, this is a gripping tale of pathos and heroism with a wonderful final twist that raises the book to a whole other level

Sensitively written, with a tremendous late twist, The Garden of Angels is above all a superlative re-creation of time and aqueous place

The plot is strong, tense and intricate with an unexpected twist in the tail, and the sense of place is haunting and powerful, but the abiding strength is in the characterisation . . . You may feel that we are sated with novels about occupied Europe in WW2, but don’t miss this one

I can thoroughly recommend this book . . . it has a strong message about fascism and about what happens to a country when people not only support and encourage it but also stand by and do nothing; are complicit in their silence. Masterful impassioned writing

Vivid and compelling, The Garden of Angels is at once a richly wrought thriller set in WWII Venice and a powerful exploration of the grey areas in which we live in times of fear and oppression

03/05/2021

Full of layers, like a Russian nesting doll, this stand-alone thriller from "Nic Costa" series author Hewson has portions set in the present and 20 years earlier, but the core of the action takes place in 1943 Venice. Mussolini's government has collapsed, and the Nazis have taken over northern Italy. The occupying forces are hunting down Jews; some Venetians are cooperating, some are resisting, and many are just trying to evade attention. Paolo Uccello, a shy teenage orphan now left to run his family's failing weaving business, comes across a body that has been fished out of a canal. An offhand remark at the scene results in his sheltering two Jewish partisans, one of them seriously wounded. The young woman of the pair schemes to connect with the local resistance, while her brother recuperates and develops a friendship (and more) with Paolo. The explosive climax comes when the roundup, the weaving, the rebellion, and the relationship collide one winter day. The Uccello business survives but is forever changed. VERDICT A good read for those who love their World War II thrillers with a bit of history included. Followers of Donna Leon's "Commissario Brunetti" mysteries may appreciate the atmosphere and the intrigue.—W. Keith McCoy, Edison, NJ