Member Reviews

Welcome To The Hotel Portofino…
Welcome to the Hotel Portofino - a stunningly majestic, lavish hotel nestled in the Italian Riviera. A sweeping tale of those who pass through its doors and those who run it, during a time of much political upheaval. With a beautifully crafted cast of characters, stunning description, a wonderful backdrop and a keen sense of time and place, the storyline remains immersive throughout.

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Bella Ainsworth has recently opened Hotel Portofino on the Italian Riviera. Her guests expect the highest accommodation and service and are being difficult. She also has to deal with the local politician.
The family are still recovering from the First World War and its aftermath, but her marriage is in trouble and she needs her son to make a good marriage but will he like the choice offered and what will the outcome be if he doesn't.

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I enjoyed this book but I found the characters very confusing. It wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be and left me feeling a little underwhelmed. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

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The year is 1926 and Mussolini is in power, with his henchmen making their presence felt across the country. The Hotel Portofino of the title is run by Bella Ainsworth in the resort of the same name on the Italian Riviera. Bella fell in love with the town on her honeymoon but is no longer in love with her husband. This is a book about love, unexpected friendships, class, politics and much else besides. There is a fine rogues gallery, a bit of a whodunit and, at the heart of everything, Bella trying to smooth troubled waters and make a good name for her hotel.

Atmospheric and well-written.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

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This is a diffficult book review to write. The story started brilliantly, it drew me in from the first page. The English family of Ainsworths who have taken the huge step of relocating to Italy in the 1920s is intriguing. The mother Bella is fulfilling a lifelong dream to open a hotel in this idyllic Italian seaside location, designed to attract the most genteel and high quality guests. Her adult children Alice and Lucian, are less enthused, but decide to make the most of it. Bella’s efforts are hampered by her husband Cecil, who is a nasty character.
The main thrust of the story is the intention for Lucian to spend time with the beautiful heiress Rose, who is completely ruled by her mother Julia, with the intention of them marrying, so helping the family fortunes. They find they have little in common, and Rose is portrayed as a vapid young lady, without a will of her own. Lucian has been seriously damaged by the Great War, both physically and mentally.
However, having ‘met’ all the characters, and enjoying the beautiful location, the reader is then sent down various unlikely rabbit holes, as the author throws everything into a very tangled story. They also attempt to make the storyline completely inclusive, with strands of racism, homophobia, marital abuse, class divide, and the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, all thrown into a mish- mash of implausible events. Not to mention the stolen painting, which is just downright daft.
I kept hoping that the author would get a grip on the narrative, to allow a satisfying ending at least.
It was not to be sadly, the ending was so weak and inconclusive that I can only assume they really had no ideas left for a good ending.
The characterisation is excellent, and all the main players are well rounded. However there are a few anachronistic phrases and sentences thrown into the narrative, which would not have been in usage in the 1920s, and situations which were not of the period written about. This detracted from the authenticity of the story.
Altogether, a disappointing 2.5 star read, rounded up to 3. I had such high hopes for this book, but it did not deliver for me.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

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Although I enjoyed this book I got muddled with the characters when they were at times described by surnames and other times Christian names.. Also there were too many characters to separate them. The overall story was good but it was me that got confused by the complexity

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A slice of life in a posh hotel on the Italian Riviera. This reminded me of old TV series like Upstairs, Downstairs or Downton Abbey, or an E.M. Forster novel, but set in Mussolini's Italy. Full of varied characters, most of whom you wouldn't want as friends, and the effect the war has on their lives. There are forbidden liaisons, an arranged society marriage and crime. A beautiful setting but so many characters it was hard to keep track of them.

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Set in 1920's in the Hotel Portofino, we learn about the owners Bella, Cecil and their adult children. All of the characters are flawed, with some not being very likeable. Quite an engrossing read.

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This is like reading an episode or three of Downton Abbey. There's the cast of characters, the glorious hotel and its behind the scenes episodes, and all the drama that a hotel can contain. Meanwhile, in the background, the war rumbles on and this affects all those in the novel and beyond it.

A snippet, snapshot of history in a book!

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