The House of the Wind: A Novel

I have to say the writing was beautiful. This author definitely has a way with words. Although I enjoyed the story, which is actually told in two different time periods, I felt the story moved very slowly. That did not stop me from continuing on my reading journey. The story starts out in the 1300’s with a young girl held prisoner in her own home for refusing to enter the convent. Instead she wants to marry a man she loves. The times dictate she must do as her parents say. On her last night of freedom she is walking in her garden when a violent wind wipes out her home and all within. She is left alive and must flee with the man she loves. Later on we meet Mia, a young girl who lives with her aunt and runs place where traveler stop to rest. We then meet Maddie, a lawyer who is preparing for her fiance’s arrival in America. He is a doctor in England. As her mother and sister arrive she receives a phone call from her future mother-in-law. Her beloved has been killed in an accident. She goes back to work at her law firm. She goes through the motions. Her grandmother sends her to Italy to dig into her past in hopes that she will find herself. The connection between Maddie and Mia becomes evident when Maddie travels to Italy. The changes she makes in her life and in those she tried to help back home becomes evident as the story progresses. I would recommend this book with the understanding that this is not a story with a quick pace. However, it was one I had trouble putting down.

A unique piece of literary fiction that was so enjoyable, I may be short on words. There are two stories running at the same time and the intersect at just the right moment. One woman is in 2007 in San Francisco, has recently lost her fiance and is trying to deal with the grief of it all. Another young woman is in 1347 in Tuscany and is also dealing with losing a family member. The parallels between these stories weren't too obvious to make the reader feel belittled, but they were subtle and sweet. Maddie (2007) was a character I fell in love with from the beginning, I wanted to hear more about her job, her family and everything in between. Mia (1347) was harder to get in to, maybe due to the time the story was taking place and my lack of knowledge about Tuscany and its history. I think the depth of this book was perfect. I loved sinking my teeth into a good women's fiction and the satisfaction of finishing a good book. Beware this is a chunkster at just under 500 pages!