Hotel Portofino

Title:

Hotel Portofino

Author:

Summary:

"Hotel Portofino has only been open a few weeks, but already the problems are mounting for its coproprietor Bella Ainsworth. She is short of staff and ready money. Her high-class guests are demanding and hard to please. And she is being targeted by a scheming and corrupt local politician, who threatens to drag her into the red-hot political cauldron of Mussolini's Italy. To make matters worse, her marriage is in trouble, and her children are still struggling to recover from the repercussions of the Great War. All eyes are on the arrival of a potential love match for her son Lucian, but events don't go to plan, which will have far-reaching consequences for the whole family."-- Publisher.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

323 pages ; 24 cm

Genre:

Domestic fiction.

Historical fiction.

Subject Term:

Hotelkeepers -- Fiction.

British -- Italy -- Fiction.

Families -- Fiction.

Politicians -- Fiction.

Hotels -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Riviera (Italy) -- Fiction.

Italy -- History -- 1922-1945 -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Blackstone Publishing,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9798200816446

Publication Information:

[Ashland, OR] : Blackstone Publishing, 2022.

Call Number:

OCONNELL

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003584961	Adult Fiction	OCONNELL J.P.	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

For fans of Downton Abbey and The Crown ... welcome to Hotel Portofino, where romance, revelry, and intrigue await.

A heady historical drama about a British family who opens an upper-class hotel on the magical Italian Riviera during the Roaring Twenties

Hotel Portofino has been open for only a few weeks, but already the problems are mounting for its owner Bella Ainsworth. Her high-class guests are demanding and hard to please. And she's being targeted by a scheming and corrupt local politician, who threatens to drag her into the red-hot cauldron of Mussolini's Italy.

To make matters worse, her marriage is in trouble, and her children are still struggling to recover from the repercussions of the Great War. All eyes are on the arrival of a potential love match for her son Lucian, but events don't go to plan, which will have far-reaching consequences for the whole family.

Set in the breathtakingly beautiful Italian Riviera, Hotel Portofino is a story of personal awakening at a time of global upheaval and of the liberating influence of Italy's enchanting culture, climate, and cuisine on British "innocents abroad."

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

This book will likely become another hit period drama series for PBS in 2022, after its British launch last year, and it will be no surprise to anyone who listens to the audio version of this book. In 1920s Italy, Bella and Cecil Ainsworth have opened a hotel catering to other Brits who want to get away to the Italian coast but don't want to give up their tea and social status. Before long, we learn the dark undercurrents of each of the guests and the tensions among the locals, the hotel staff and the visiting gentry. There are also rumblings of fascism within the town. The plot moves along at a sedate pace, as the cast is the main attraction of the book. The period evokes the style of Downton Abbey with the charm and warmth of the Italian coast. With so many characters, it takes a great voice actor to help listeners keep them straight. Esther Wane does just this with a delightful British accent as well as dialects that are appropriate for the characters. VERDICT Highly recommended for public libraries of all sizes.--Gretchen Pruett