Go on an immersive voyage through time with "The Garden of Angels", skillfully narrated by Richard Armitage, where past and present converge in a mesmerizing tale of courage, resilience, and the enduring power of family bonds.

From the moment I embarked on this literary odyssey, I was captivated by the intricate tapestry of narratives woven by Hewson. The alternating perspectives of young Paolo in Nazi-occupied Venice and his grandson, Nico, in the present day, create a compelling juxtaposition that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

Hewson's vivid prose brings to life the rich historical backdrop of World War II-era Venice, painting a vivid portrait of a city gripped by fear and defiance. Through Paolo's poignant memoir and Nico's contemporary quest for truth, we are transported to a time of turmoil and resistance, where the echoes of the past reverberate with profound relevance.

The characters, particularly Paolo and Nico, are rendered with depth and nuance, their struggles and triumphs resonating with authenticity and emotional depth. Paolo's courage in the face of adversity and Nico's journey of self-discovery serve as poignant reminders of the resilience of the human spirit.

One of the novel's greatest strengths lies in its exploration of themes such as identity, sacrifice, and the enduring bonds of family. As Paolo's legacy unfolds and Nico grapples with his grandfather's revelations, we are reminded of the importance of confronting the past and embracing the complexities of our shared history.

Richard Armitage's narration elevates the storytelling to new heights, infusing each character with distinct voices and imbuing the narrative with a palpable sense of urgency and emotion. His masterful performance brings Hewson's words to life, immersing listeners in the heartrending drama of the Uccello family saga.

In this enthralling tale, Hewson and Armitage have crafted a masterpiece that transcends genres and leaves an indelible mark on the soul. "The Garden of Angels" is a spellbinding journey that will linger in the minds of readers long after the final chapter has been read.

I was drawn to this story because of the setting, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was so great to hear about the German occupation of Venice, which was something that I had never really given much thought to. I found this incredibly interesting. This book had queer storylines which I was not anticipating, and loved, and I had absolutely not expected the ending, which was incredibly compelling. I really enjoyed the details about the weaving too. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Richard Armitage, which on the whole was great. The only thing I found a little strange about it was that he gave the Italian characters accents from the north of England and Scotland, which I found quite distracting - beyond that, it was great!

The Garden of Angels audiobook whisked me away to the past and what an experience it was. As ever Richard Armitage narrates wonderfully. Giving a rich performance that captured my attention until the very end.

In The Garden of Angels we meet Nico who receives a manuscript from his grandfather, Paolo. This is the beginning of a journey to the past as both Nico and the reader experiences the events of occupied Venice in 1943. I have to admit that I hadn’t much knowledge of Venice during the war so it was definitely a new experience for me. As I listened it was so very easy to be transported to the past and a dangerous one at that.

When Nico reads his grandfather’s manuscript it was such a completely immersive experience. Making it very easy to be drawn into a dark and dangerous world. Even though the transitions from past to present were pretty seamless. I still had to collect myself after some of the events in the past. This was mainly because I had come to care for the characters. Even more so as the stakes became higher with every decision the characters made. Danger was at every turn creating a tension that increased as the story progressed.

I’m trying to be a little on the vague side when it comes to the plot because I would hate to ruin any part of the story. I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book so you can discover every little detail for yourself. Even more so if you listen to audiobooks. As I listened it felt as if I had been whisked away to Venice albeit at a very dangerous and dark time! The Garden of Angels was wonderfully rich in detail and the experience of listening definitely gave an extra special depth. Throughout this book the reader is immersed completely in the tangled and often secretive lives of the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this vivid and atmospheric tale. Let’s just say that The Garden of Angels is guaranteed to make it onto my list of top books picks for 2021!

An outstanding book made even better by an outstanding narrator.

Nico watches while his classmate is attacked by bullies for being Jewish. He’s suspended from school and when visiting his grandfather who is seriously ill in hospital, must explain his suspension – this leads to Paolo, (the grandfather) sharing his long-held secret of events during WW2. Nico’s “punishment” is to read Paolo’s diary of events that happened during WW2. Nonno Paolo wants to ensure that his grandson is fully aware of what horrific times he had to survive during Mussolini’s compliance with Germany and the subsequent arrival of German troops in Italy.

What a truly awesome story filled with wonderfully memorable characters. I loved this book and will most definitely be listening to it again….and again.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

I love Richard Armitage; he's a great narrator. And I love WWII fiction. So, I was hoping to love this book; but, while it was decent, it didn't grab me nor stay with me after. However, it wasn't a run-of-the-mill WWII story and had some interesting story lines, so I would still recommend it to other WWII fiction fans.

First, the narrator. I felt he did a good job. Second, the story. It suffered from bloat. Too much back-and-forth. I think Mr. Henson has reached the status where his editor is afraid to chop. And lastly, melodramatic.. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Nico's grandfather, Paolo, entrusts to him a dark secret, a secret that he's kept all his life. Each day that Nico goes to visit his grandfather, he gives him an envelope containing part of a story of his life. Its a story of love, strength, resilience and also a cautionary tale.

Set in Venice as the Nazi's occupied Italy as the Jews are rounded up and life as everyone knows it changes drastically, Paolo is asked to hide 2 Jews who are trying to flee, a brother and sister. The brother is injured and needs a safe place to rest before they flee. In the meantime, Paolo is struggling to fulfill an order for the velvet that his family is known for. Unfortunately they only have one weaver and not enough time.

After Paolo's death Nico doesn't know what to do with the story and is afraid to learn the ending. He can't face what he knows is written in the final words of his beloved grandfather, so he flees Italy. He goes to university in England and doesn't return until a phone call from his father in hospital brings him back to a world much changed from when he was there as a young man. Once again hatred and intolerance is rising and as his family's velvet workshop is transformed into loft apartments that he is tasked with dedicating. With Nano Paolo's story ringing in his ears he realizes what he must do.

Beautifully written and narrated I found myself transported to 1943 Italy, I could hear the whispers of the looms as they worked, and feel the passion of first love. The fear of being discovered, and the bravery to stand up. Such a timely novel in a time of rising hatred and intolerance across the world for immigrants and everyone different. This is also a beautiful tribute to the Italian jews and others who lost their lives to the Nazi's during the occupation.

I find myself coming back to this story and hearing the whisper of the looms when I least expect it.

I received a copy of this audio book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First off I will say that this was a fascinating listen, with that said I can’t say that I fully enjoyed it. The characters were relatable, the story was enthralling and the narration was superb. My only issue with this is that the story dragged on in places and I was finding it hard to focus on the story within the story many times.

I found myself towards the end of the novel loosing interest in the actual story being told because it seemed to be dragging on.

If you like historical fiction novels/audiobooks dealing with WWII give this a listen, I am sure there are opinions that will be different than mine.

This book is about a youth visiting his dying grandfather and learning his grandfather’s story during the Nazi occupation of Venice. The writing is descriptive with some interest in places, but I found other parts to be slow-moving, and I struggled to get into the characters at the beginning, I found the narration a bit difficult to follow as the reader didn’t change or alert to who was speaking all the time, so I found it hard to follow.

My thanks to W.F. Howes Ltd. for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Garden of Angels’ by David Hewson. It is narrated by Richard Armitage and has a running time of 13 hours, 22 minutes at 1x speed.

Hewson’s latest stand-alone novel is set in Venice. In the summer of 1999, fifteen-year-old Nico’s beloved grandfather, Paolo, is dying. The family are renowned Italian fabric weavers, the House of Uccello.

When Nico fails to act when a Jewish classmate is attacked by bullies, he is suspended for a week. During this period Nono Paolo presents Nico with a typed, yellowing manuscript, describing it as a history lesson. However, he cautions Nico to keep what he reads secret from his father.

This proved a powerful tale linked to the persecution of the Jewish community in Venice as well as the activities of the Venetian underground resistance. The narrative moves between 1999 and what happened to his grandfather in Nazi-occupied Venice in 1943. The last section shifts to 2019 as Nico returns to Venice and uncovers the final secrets of his family.

I have been an avid reader of Hewson’s novels for years and while this is different to his crime fiction, it still contains those qualities that I admire in his writing: close attention to detail in terms of settings and historical aspects, strong characterisations, and a compelling story.

In terms of the audiobook, Richard Armitage is my favourite male narrator and his performance and distinctive, rich voice brought this story and its characters vividly to life.

Overall, a powerful work of historical fiction that moved me deeply and highlighted aspects of WWII in Italy that I was previously unaware of. In his Author’s Note Hewson advises that although its characters are fictional, the novel took some inspiration from events following the German occupation of Venice.

Highly recommended.

*I want to apologise to the author if some of the Italian names are not correctly written. As I only had access to the audiobook, I didn’t have the means to check the spelling of the names.

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Nonno Paolo Uccello is in the hospital and 15 years old Nico, his grandson, went to visit him. He is not at the school because he was part of a bullying episode against a Jewish classmate.

Nico’s grandfather gets upset when he hears that Nico didn’t do anything to stop the bullying. Paolo gives then Nico five envelopes where he has written the story of his life. He pleads Nico to read it. Nico’s father doesn’t know the story written inside those envelopes. This is just for Nico to read.

Paolo sees in himself something of his old self. For this reason, he thinks Nico must learn his story, to understand his past which will make Nico understand himself.

Through the manuscript, Nico would learn of the 1943 Nazi occupation of Venice, of Partisans, of hatred, of violence, of living in war. Furthermore, he will discover aspects of Paolo’s life that he would never have guessed and which make him see his grandfather with new eyes.

In addition, Nonno Paolo’s story would change Nico, making him doubt who he really is, shaking him deep inside.

The manuscripts start the story when Paolo is 18 years old. He lives alone in his house because his parents died in an American air raid. His only company is dear Chiara who had worked with his parents in the family weaving company, creating a high-quality velvet.

Before his parents died, they had received a last order to do some banners for a mysterious man. And as money is quite scarce, Paolo decides to finish the banners with the help of Chiara.

However, his life unexpectedly changed. He is asked to hide a Jewish brother and sister. They are being persecuted for being Partisans and fighting against the Nazis.

THE WAR AND THE NAZIS

One can think that this story in “The Garden of Angels” has been told many times before: the Second World War, the Nazis’ invasion of a country, the hatred against the Jews, the violence, the indifference for the human life, etc., etc.

However, what this book narrates is much more than that, and that is what makes the novel so special.

We learn of the life of the people whose country has been invaded, of the inhabitants of Venice who suffered the occupation.

We read about their daily lives, and about all their sufferings, their anger, their pain, the fear that they have to experience day after day. Similarly, we hear about the hatred they felt for their invaders. This is the case of the character of Chiara, for example.

Additionally, we find out about the people who decide to help the invaders. These are the ones who decide first to save themselves and try to survive the cruelty around them. They choose to live, no matter what. And if surviving means helping the Germans, they would do it. This is the case of Alberti, a city policeman.

However, collaborating with the Nazis comes with a price to pay. Their fellow citizen see them as traitors and despise them.

THE MARTYRS: PARTISANS

Likewise, we also learn the story of another side of the war, of the people who try to resist and fight against the invaders. They risk everything they have, including their lives, to help and save their country from the Nazis.

That is the story of the Partisan brother and sister from Turin considered terrorists by both the Germans and the local Venetian police.

We find out about their anger and dissatisfaction as a consequence of seeing their country torn apart and their lives changed forever because of the war.

Additionally, we know about the Venetian Resistance. Even among them there are some people who put their personal safety before that of their friends, family and country.

OTHER MARTYRS: THE VENETIANS

In addition we learn about another type of people. These are the Venetians who decide to help the Partisans.

They also risk their lives, but in a different way. They don’t actively fight with their hands, but by hiding Partisans and not complying with the Nazi orders.

Nevertheless, they also receive the hatred of their fellow citizens. From their perspective, sometimes it is not so clear on which side they are. However, as we read in the pages of “The Garden of Angels” some of them even die trying to help those people who despise them.

This is the case of the priest Philippo Garzone and the old doctor of the city, Aldo Diamante. The Nazis asked this last one to write a list with the names of all the Jews of the city. However, his principles and his love for Italy and its citizens, did not allow him to complete the task, no matter which consequences that might bring…

FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT “THE GARDEN OF ANGELS”

The last chapter of the book is one of the most beautiful texts I have read in the last years.

Time passes and Nico is now a grown-up man. He still tries to fully assimilate the story of Nonno Paolo and his family, and what this all means personally for him. His identity is a different one. He is not who he thought he was. His childhood has been a sort of lie.

Nico comes back to The Garden of Angels, the house where Paolo and his family had lived in Venice. Nowadays, it is a coffeeshop and a sort of museum, and he is invited there for the inauguration of the exhibition. They uncover a plaque remembering the people who had died there as martyrs for a free Italy.

And this is the thing which makes the last chapter so special. While they are uncovering the plaque, Nico realizes that the young people who attended the ceremony, only cared for the free coffee. They don’t care at all to remember the people who died there to recover the country where they live in now back from the hands of the Nazis. They don’t care if they had to pay with their lives so that they can now live in a free Italy. What an irony, right?

That is why, this book is so special, because it makes us remember that those martyrs cannot, should not be forgotten; that the atrocities of war cannot, should not be left behind.

When Nico tries to gather information about Alberti and his whereabouts, the old people he asked preferred not to say anything. It was better to forget the war and its atrocities in order to not opening old wounds. However, it is also understandable that after suffering so much, people simply want to forget.

That is why, Nonno Paolo put the manuscript with his life in Nico’s hands, to be kept and remembered, never forgotten.

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Thanks to the publisher, W.F. Howes Ltd, the author David Hewson and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of “The Garden of Angels” in exchange for an honest review.

The Garden of Angels by David Hewson and narrated by Richard Armitage

Fifteen year old Nico, his father, and his grandfather reside in Palazzo Colombina, on Venice's Grand Canal.  As Nico's grandfather, Nonno Paolo, is dying he presents Nico with five manuscripts of his life that he has been writing just for Nico's eyes. He wants Nico to understand the past and to understand himself. He sees something in Nico that he saw in himself and he wants Nico to learn from the story he has to tell.  Paolo's story takes us back to 1943, when Venice was occupied by the Nazis and the war is on the doorsteps of the citizens. Eighteen year old Paolo's parents have been killed by a bombing raid and Paolo and his family's dearest employee have one last weaving job to complete. 

Paolo's family is Italian and are considered newcomers to the area despite having lived there for so long. They have hidden away in their weaving business for years and eventually Paolo realizes that they have hidden away because of him, because he's different from other boys and that difference has been noticed by more than just his family. People stare and talk so his parents took Paolo out of school and taught him themselves while training him to continue the work of their business. 

One day, Paolo makes a decision that changes his life even more than the war and his parents death has changed it. He agrees to hide a Jewish brother and sister who are wanted because they are Jewish and for their fight against the Nazis. Meeting these two, and the doctor and priest that are helping so many of the persecuted in the city, awakens in Paulo a heightened awareness of the war, the injustice, and his feelings towards individuals and himself, that he hadn't faced at this point. 

The story that Paolo writes to his grandson is a bloody, treacherous nightmare of our past and after each of the five chapters we go back to Nico and his thoughts and reactions to the past events. He loves his Nonno Paola and wants to understand what he is trying to teach him but he's confused by so much of what he learns. The heroism of the past and also the brutality of the past should never be forgotten and that is one of the lessons that Paolo wants to impart to his grandson. 

The narration of the story by Richard Armitage is fantastic, and along with the synopsis of the book, what drew me to this story. The brutality that is inflicted on those in Venice mirrors the rest of the world's horror during this time but what I remember is a doctor and a priest who put others before themselves. Paolo ever forgets these people and his housemates during that time and he wants his grandson to hold this story close to his heart, learn from it, and use it in his future. 

Thank you to W.F. Howes Ltd and NetGalley for this ARC.

I was granted complimentary access to the audio ARC of The Garden of Angels by David Hewson through the publisher, W.F. Howes Ltd, via NetGalley is exchange for an honest review. Thank you to all involved in giving me this opportunity! This has not swayed my opinion. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

The Garden of Angels is a story split between the present and the past. In the present, Nico Uccello has been suspended from school for a week for watching classmates attack a Jewish newcomer. When he confesses this to his dying grandfather, his grandfather gives him his own story, written down in parts, to read and keep secret until he is finished. In the past (grandfather Paolo's memoir), young Paolo lives in Nazi-occupied Italy and finds himself entangled in the underground Jewish resistance.

The former history student in me jumped at the chance to review this title! 20th Century wartime history was my focus, but I didn't get much from the Italian perspective in my studies. Even though this is fiction, it's clearly steeped in historical fact. That alone made this an enjoyable read to me. Add in the suspense aspect of not knowing how Paolo's story will resolve or what Nico will do with this new knowledge and I couldn't put it down!

The majority of this book set in the past reads like a novelized autobiography of the sort my history professors would have assigned to undergrads to understand the mindset of the people we were studying, like when we read Hilary's The First and the Last. The portions set in the present beautifully illustrate a teenage boy's breakthrough from complacently racist and passive to informed, righteous, and ready to stand up for the rights of others. I was particularly struck by the way the elders in his life responded when he started asking for other memories to go alongside his grandfather's and how not all of them were as willing. He didn't realize what sort of pain and fear he was asking them to uncover, and their sharp responses made him realize how little respect he was giving them and their past.

Overall the story this book tells is beautifully heartbreaking, or heartbreakingly beautiful. It has a thriller element, and though it isn't overly fast-paced, there are no dull moments. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves history, historical fiction, or heartfelt life lesson stories.

Richard Armitage's narration is excellent! He does such a great job making sure all major characters sound distinctly different, and handles accents and Italian names well. I appreciate that he hasn't tried to pitch up female voices to the point of sounding comical, as some male narrators tend to do. His own lower voice is so pleasant to listen to, I wouldn't want any squeaky falsetto interruptions to the buttery flow of everything else. I will absolutely look for Richard Armitage listed as the narrator when browsing titles in the future.