A hypnotizing coming-of-age novel set in 1950s Italy that stares into the heart of longing and at the friendships that have the power to save and destroy us.

"I was utterly captivated, from first page to last." (Anton DiSclafani, New York Times best-selling author of The After Party)

Isabella is beautiful, inscrutable, and popular. Her best friend, Bridget, keeps quietly to the fringes of their Connecticut Catholic school, watching everything and everyone, but most especially Isabella.

In 1957, when the girls graduate, they land coveted spots at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Pentila in Northern Italy, a prestigious art history school on the grounds of a silent convent. There, free of her claustrophobic home and the town that will always see her and her Egyptian mother as outsiders, Bridget discovers she can reinvent herself as anyone she desires...perhaps even someone Isabella could desire in return.

But as that glittering year goes on, Bridget begins to suspect Isabella is keeping a secret from her, one that will change the course of their lives forever.

Listening Length

10 hours and 34 minutes
Author

Anbara Salam
Narrator

Jill Winternitz
Audible release date

June 9, 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Audio
ASIN

B08157G71P
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	10 hours and 34 minutes
Author	Anbara Salam
Narrator	Jill Winternitz
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	June 09, 2020
Publisher	Penguin Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08157G71P
Best Sellers Rank	#366,838 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #3,449 in Coming of Age Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #15,283 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #22,969 in Historical Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

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2 star		6%
1 star		10%

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gourmet girl

You must be Catholic or a teenager to enjoy?

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

I couldn't get through Chapter One...awful!

Helpful

Missed Opportunities

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2020

Bridget is a high school student who lives mostly in her head, an outsider, who doesn’t fit in at her Catholic school in Connecticut. Isabella is beautiful, sometimes mysterious, and often defiant of rules. The two girls couldn’t be more different. When Isabella begins making friend overtures toward Bridget, Bridget is delighted and hopeful of being included in the rich-girl’s cliques. They both are accepted into a program to study art centered in a nunnery in Italy.

The author’s storyline, while not entirely unique, could have been so much more than it ended up being. She had a chance to write a poignant story about wanting to fit in, to be loved, all set in, for the most part, Italy. Salam missed the boat because her characters are not engaging, readers will not necessarily care about either one. The writing is sometimes stilted with tons of missed opportunities to dig deeper. There was way too much telling and not enough showing.

This is not a book that you can’t wait to get back to. This is a book that is likely to be either much admired or much disliked. If you like coming-of-age stories with shallow characters and some angst, then this is the book for you. If you prefer coming-of-age novels that make you feel something, that take advantage of locales, and with characters you root for, this is not one of those books.

My thanks to Penguin and Edelweiss for an eARC.

Helpful

Amy Vox Libris

Not the book you hope it would be

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2020

What we have here is a failure to fulfill.

Bridget, thanks to her half Egyptian, half white blood, struggles to find her place in her Connecticut Catholic school. When she and Isabella, one of the school's stars, head to Italy after graduating to study art (at a convent where the nuns tend to be silent), Bridget hopes that she can start fresh. Isabella seems interested in a friendship, and maybe no one needs to know Bridget's background.

So what could have been the story of how a girl's desperation to connect and to be something affects her relationships instead turns into something more dull and rote. Bridget's coming-of-age is reduced and distilled to a rather uninteresting plot of a very close friendship that turns out to be not as close as Bridget would have liked.

You might be frustrated by the lack of development of Isabella and some of the other supporting characters. You're told just enough about Isabella that your curiosity is piqued. If nothing else, she's far more interesting than Bridget, but ultimately she becomes one-note and flat.

I wanted to like this book. I love its title, I love its cover, I love its blurb. But I couldn't get past the opportunities Anbara Salam passed up to make this more compelling.

Helpful

Tarheels

A coming-of-age story

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2020

I love a coming-of-age story! Belladonna is the tale of two friends living in Connecticut in the 1950s. They move to Italy to study art while living in a convent.

They are the yin and yang of friends. Isabella is the outgoing, popular one, while the reserved Bridget is often in her shadow.

It is there, at the convent, that Bridget opens up and finds herself, feeling more comfortable in who she is. Somewhere along the way, Bridget discovers Isabella is keeping some dark secrets, and it’s unclear how they could affect them both.

Salam transports the reader to Italy in the 1950s. Bridget is truly at the center of this novel, and she is of Egyptian heritage, which she hides, something she’s feels judged for constantly. She wants nothing more than to fit in, and Isabella takes advantage of her, while Bridget continues to obsess over Isabella and their friendship.

Overall, I found Belladonna to be an angsty, emotional coming-of-age story. I wanted more for Bridget, and I was along for the ride, rooting for her.

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Helpful

Lenoire

Very boring

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2020

Isabella is the beloved popular girl that everyone wants to befriend. Bridget, her best friend, is the exact opposite of each other. Bridget keeps to herself but, she watches everyone, especially Isabella.

The girls graduate school and land spots in a coveted art school in Northern Italy. The Accademia di Belle Arti di Pentila is housed in a silent nun convent. The duo was happy to be away from their family and have their freedom. Bridget is happy because she is free to reinvent herself and no one will discriminate her for being an outsider due to her Egyptian roots.

I thought this novel moved very slowly and was boring. I didn't take an interest in any of the characters. I felt like Bridget only cared about herself and Isabella. She showed very little regard for other people. Isabelle was just using Bridget as a pawn in her own little game. I feel like the author could have gone into more details for some things especially, Bridget's family.

Helpful

The writing fell really flat.

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2021

*Thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the complimentary copy for my honest review*

The writing in this book was awful for me, it was flat, bland, and just overall lacking in any kind of emotions. This book had a lot of potential to be something great and I'm glad that other readers have appreciated it so much and rated it highly, I just can't give this book a good review. The characters weren't very well developed and I was really hoping for a strong female voice in this one but I didn't get it.

Helpful

Andi Lutz

A beautifully painful story of friendship and obsession set in the 1950's.

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2020

A beautifully painful story of friendship and obsession set in the 1950's.
---
While studying abroad two best friends begin a journey that will change their lives forever.

Bridget continues her obsession with Isabella along with trying to be someone she isn't. One lie leads to another and soon it catches up with her.

Isabella marches to the beat of her own drum and begins to retreat into her own secret life.
---
The Pros:
The characters are nicely developed and completely imperfect.
The devastation, obsession, and desperation could be felt in the writing.
---
The Cons:
Seemed childish and dull at times.

Helpful

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