cover image Ciao Bella

Ciao Bella

Gina Buonaguro, Janice Kirk. Thomas Dunne Books, $24.99 (243pp) ISBN 978-0-312-37992-6

In the follow-up to their duo debut, The Sidewalk Artist, Buonaguro and Kirk follow Graziella Nevicato, a small-town Venetian woman who has all but given up hope that her husband Ugo will return from WWII. Though death in battle is a great honor-even for the four sisters he leaves behind, forced to plan his funeral after a seven-month absence-his wife, born Grace Forrest in Toronto, feels marooned among people who have never fully accepted her. That's when Frank, an American with a broken-down motorcycle, appears at her gates. Frank, unlike Grace, is quickly adopted by the town-Grace's father-in-law even mistakes him for his own son-and gives Grace a reason to hope for love and a normal life again. As both a grieving widow and a fish out of water, Grace is an affecting character with well-articulated values; unfortunately, Frank proves little more than a cipher, rendering a late-breaking plot twist inert.