Customer Reviews

The Battle of the Villa Fiorita

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An Englishwoman divorces her husband and leaves her children to go and live in Italy with a film director. This is an incredible and horrifying event to the two youngest children; their mother has always been shy, self-effacing, and self-sacrificing. Rebelling at the thought of watching helplessly while their home is torn apart, they concoct a plan to go to Italy and bring their mother home. However, when they confront her, with her new life and new love, unanticipated emotions and realizations surface, and the conclusion is not what was expected. This is a thought-provoking novel that explores marriage, divorce, and family life with wit and sensitivity.

The Battle of the Villa Fiortia is truly a book that was a joy to read. The plot does start out rather rocky, and at times, it it difficult to distinguish between a character's flashback and the present events. As the book progresses, the children of the story reveal just how deeply their mother's marriage to a film director is affecting them. Set in rural Italy, it's a very exotic setting, which contributes to the intrigue of the story. Humorous at times, very dramatic at others, the mood of this book is excellent. There are many instances of symbolism throughout the book, each presented clearly yet subtly. Toward the end of the book, I was beginning to realize how a divorce can affect a family, and how it can hurt the children more than the adults. Like the children of the Villa Fiortia, I was horrified, startled, and angered at the adults' immature decisions, and I was entertained by the children's insufferable "battle plans."

When a proper Englishwoman leaves her husband and children and goes off to Italy with her film director lover, the two children manage to get themselves to Italy all by themselves with the plan of bringing their mother back home. Emotions are high throughout this touching story, and the ending is not at all what I expected. It's so well-written, witty and charming, but it's also heartbreakingly sensitive.
Read it.

One of Goden's strengths is that her characters sometimes do the unthinkable but quite credibly, and another is her portrayal of the incredible pain of adolescence. Both shine in "Fiorita". I always enjoy her descriptions of English families discovering Europe and the life lessons they learn, and the young heroine of this book is very appealing. Godden is a convert to Catholicism and her dislike of divorce is particularly evident in this novel, yet she depicts sympathetically the force of romance in a middle-class existence.