Obsession, obsession everywhere, and a flute of spumante to drink. As in a movie from this period, melodrama and clichés are par for the course. Lyall, Sarah (10 December 2020). "The Best Thrillers of 2020". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 27 December 2021.

An unashamedly romantic novel that swept me away to a glamorous period and luxurious locations. Lucy Foley shows a sharp eye for detailed and well-researched description...Thank you for sending it to me.’

I was gripped from the beginning- a book which held my attention as a result of good characterisation, intense plot, superb style and wonderful sense of place. I have not read anything by this author before but will do again.’ Rome 1953: Hal and Stella meet by chance at a glittering party hosted by the Contessa, a fundraiser for her film project.

When I can afford it. It is why I am throwing this party – to try and persuade others they want to see it made too.’

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And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why? ( From the publisher.)

She smiles. ‘Hal Jacobs,’ she says. ‘I will remember.’ And then, before he can ask exactly what she means by this, she winks. ‘Enjoy my party.’ Then she walks into the crowd and is enveloped by it, lost from view. For a vertiginous moment, he feels that he is floating above it all. Then the ground reforms itself beneath him; he begins to look around. There are palms and shrubs, the smell of the earth after the rain. He gropes for the word for it: petrichor.This book is so conflicting. I wanted to like this book a lot. The setting is interesting, the cover is stunning, the era is interesting, but there is just too much of could have been. Stella is with her husband who is an investor for the film. Hal is on the yacht to do a story. Hal did not know that Stella was married. Oh no! Cocoran, Lucy (21 September 2021). "The Are The Best Bingeable Books You Can't Put Down". Marie Claire . Retrieved 27 December 2021. At the entrance he feels the doorman’s gaze irradiate his person, find him wanting. ‘ Cognome, per favore?’

Hal feels her gaze on him. Her eyes are amazing, he realizes, like liquid bronze. She studies him for a time without speaking. Well,’ Fede says, patiently, ‘you could pretend to be me. I think we do not look all that different.’ Exploring the innerworking of the film world and rich circles in Italy as oppose to Hollywood is doubtlessly worth reading as well.

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That spring was the start of everything, for me. Before then, I might have been half-asleep, drifting through life. Before then I had not known the true capacity of the human heart. Hal chooses not to point out the obvious. Fede is half a foot shorter, with a broken nose and brown eyes where Hal’s are blue. The only similarity is their dark hair.