{"product_id":"books-return-to-valetto-by-dominic-smith","title":"Return to Valetto","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Texas Institute of Letters Jesse H. Jones Award for Fiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eA Best Book of the Year: \u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eA Must-Read:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Post\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Christian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"A story of love, loss, and the enduring power of hope. I was transfixed from page one.\" ―Lara Prescott, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Secrets We Kept\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the bestselling author of\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Last Painting of Sara de Vos\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e, Dominic Smith's\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eReturn to Valetto\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003etells of a nearly abandoned Italian village, the family that stayed, and long-buried secrets from World War II.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village that survived centuries of earthquakes and landslides and became a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II, it has since been nearly abandoned, as residents sought better lives elsewhere. Only ten remain, including the widows Serafino--three eccentric sisters and their steely centenarian mother--who live quietly in their medieval villa. Then their nephew and grandson, Hugh, a historian, returns.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e But someone else has arrived before him, laying claim to the cottage where Hugh spent his childhood summers. The unwelcome guest is the captivating and no-nonsense Elisa Tomassi, who asserts that the family patriarch, Aldo Serafino, a resistance fighter whom her own family harbored, gave the cottage to them in gratitude. But like so many threads of history, this revelation unravels a secret--a betrayal, a disappearance, and an unspeakable act of violence--that has affected Valetto across generations. Who will answer for the crimes of the past?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Dominic Smith's \u003ci\u003eReturn to Valetto\u003c\/i\u003e is a riveting journey into one family's dark past, a page-turning excavation of the ruins of history, and a probing look at our commitment to justice in a fragile world. It is also a deeply human and transporting testament to the possibility of love and understanding across gaps of all kinds--even time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World of Books ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53672692842769,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781250335777.jpg?v=1781520864","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/books-return-to-valetto-by-dominic-smith","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}