A Rose for Every Month [Hardcover]

Sally Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

After being jilted, thirty-one-year-old Jane Rushton leaves her native England for Florence in the early years of Mussolini's reign, finding work as a governess for an aristocratic Italian family that introduces her to an exotic world of romance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1925, Jane Rushton, 31, whose family runs a prestigious wine-importing firm, flees a broken engagement and a rigid home life in London for a tumultuous new existence in the Tuscan countryside. Thereafter, this pleasant if uneven historical romance nicely intertwines two disparate families and two opposing cultures. The highly proper Rushtons are appalled when Jane is hired as a governess by the indolent aristocrat Ottavio Buonaventura. It's bad enough that his vast estate, Castagnolo, is neglected and derelict, but his family is divided between idle scholars and Fascist party bigwigs. Jane sets to reviving the ancient wine-producing estate with new enthusiasm. Making deft use of background material, Stewart lovingly describes the harvest ( vendemmia ), when peasant and aristocrat alike begin the colorful ritual of turning grapes into nectar. As the years move with grim inevitability toward WW II, characters proliferate; the Rushton family travels to Italy and numerous aunts, cousins and maturing adolescents intermingle to create a series of events that unfortunately dilute the story. Yet the author of The Women of Providence portrays a particular time and place with clarity and affection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

A spinster's flight to Italy to escape a loveless marriage eventually brings her entire family into close companionship with the wine-growing Buenaventuras. Ottavio Beunaventura hires Jane to act as governess for his children and falls in love with this pragmatic woman. She eventually helps bring his family's business back to prosperity, just as World War II arrives with devastating effect on them all. Ottavio's brother, a devout fascist, works closely with Mussolini. Stewart's vision of Italy and Italians is an incongruous yet lovely one. A romance novel riddled with Italian history and especially pleasant for its setting in Tuscany rather than regency England. Denise Perry Donavin

Product Details

• Hardcover: 430 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312104987
• ISBN-13: 978-0312104986
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,846,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An engrossing generational saga, February 9, 2004

By 

Beth Cholette "doctor_beth" (Upstate NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Rose for Every Month (Hardcover)

This book begins with the character of Jane Rushton, a 30-something English woman in the 1920s who flees to Italy to escape her fiance's infidelity. There she meets Ottavio Castagnolo, "padrone" of a vast wine and olive estate which has been slowly falling into ruin. Jane agrees to become governess for Ottavio's two young children, and thus the lives of the Rushtons and the Castagnolos become forever intertwined. Specifically, Jane's brother, Charlie, her cousin, Alexandra, and her nephew David, all become bewitched by Italy through mingling with Ottavio's sister, Anna, his brother, Fausto, and his son and daughter, Marco and Francesca. The story spans approximately 40 years and is set against the backdrop of WWII. My only complaint about this novel is that the ending felt rather rushed; suddenly, we have the characters informing us of the action rather than being allowed to see it unfold for ourselves. Overall, however, this was an enjoyable read, especially given the unique perspective into a terrible time of world history.