Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Review: The Italian Party

The Italian Party

The Italian Party
Christina Lynch

This sparkling jewel, set in the 1950's follows Scottie and Michael, two naive Americans who move to Italy. Michael has a job to sell tractors in Siena, although in reality he is secretly working for the CIA. Scottie his new wife is unaware of his real job, and like Michael she too has something to hide. Mainly the fact that she isn't, as Michael thinks, an heiress with a large trust fund waiting for her. Not only do this couple not know each other particularly well when they arrive in Italy, they also do not know much about Italians. This could be a problem for Michael since his task is to prevent the communist mayor from being re-elected. He will also need to find some informants as soon as possible. All seems to be going well until the one informant he manages to engage goes missing. It may take all the social skills of Scottie to find out what happened to him.

This clever, fun novel is timely and poignant reminding the reader that trying to sway elections is nothing new. For Michael and Scottie, politics in 1950's Italy might be a lot more subtle and complex than either bargained for but it doesn't stop them from enjoying all that Bella Italia has to offer. I loved this one so much I hated for it to end.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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