The Lost Boy of Bologna: Absolutely beautiful and gripping Italian historical fiction

A desperate mother struggles to support her new-born baby, with little money and with the babe sickly she’s in a very bad place. When the baby turns blue the new mother fears the worst! When there’s no signs of life the mother does what she feels best.. the last resort.. she leaves the baby with everything she has, including a family earring in the hope it can be used the pay to give the baby the funeral he deserves.Little does the new mother know the baby survives, although still a little sickly. The baby is named Rinaldo Scamorza.Rinaldo spends years in the orphanage waiting for his mothers return, he never gives up hope, but no one is looking for him.Eventually after a tough start to life he’s set to leave the orphanage. Little does he know his hardships are just beginning. The only good thing in his life is Evelina, she’s like a big sister to him but as a pretty girl her life’s not going to be easy either.Evelina and Rinaldo learn the hard way that there are some very bad people in life. Some of the events are quite difficult to read as they cause very personal traumas to the characters.As we fast forward through Rinaldo’s life I was just waiting, desperate to see where he would end up. Little did I know his whole world is going to be fractured again.. but will the latest events be good or bad? I’ll let you find out 😊I loved the plot of this one, when you start this, you’re in it for the long haul as it’s all about that build up, the history. The pace was prefect, but I can’t lie, I powered through those last 3 – 4 chapters. You know something is coming, you know how you want it to play out, but will it?As much as some of the events are harrowing, the word best to describe this book is “Hope”. Rinaldo never gives up… he never stops thinking about his mother and Evelina.I can’t stress enough how much I loved the flow, the connections built with the characters. It meant there were many times I felt warm and fuzzy as events linked to Rinaldo and played out beautifully, full of emotion.. Wow

I enjoyed this book immensely. The descriptions just flowed smoothly from one place to another and the whole story carried me along wanting to know more and read more. The whole thing was so well written that I would be unable to compare another novel that I found excellent with it. The book stands in a class of its own. I look forward to the next book.

A very enjoyable read. Such depth of description and understanding of how lives and paths can be influenced. Not everything turns out for the best but the best we can hope for.

I felt disappointed with the Story altogether. It's a shame because I have read her Paradiso books and enjoyed them.

Beautifully writtenSo many twists and unlikely coincidences.I would have liked another chapter but the final chapter had me in tears as it was