The Words We Whisper

Taylor (Honeysuckle Season) skillfully toggles between present-day Virginia and WWII-era Rome as a woman learns her grandmother’s secrets in this emotional romance. Twenty-nine-year-old hospice nurse Zara Mitchell returns to Richmond, Va., where her grandmother, “Nonna,” lives with Zara’s sister, Gina, upon learning that Nonna’s heart is failing. When Zara agrees to Nonna’s request to clean out her attic, she discovers a journal that sheds light on Nonna’s past. Zara also finds time to reconnect with Nicolas Bernard, a man she met while caring for his wife, Catherine, before she died of ovarian cancer. As Zara and Gina learn the details of Nonna’s life, loves, and losses in 1940s Rome, Zara opens her heart to the possibility of a future with Nicolas. Taylor expertly employs the parallel timelines to highlight the impact of the past on the present, exploring the complexities of familial relationships while peeling back the layers of her flawed, realistic characters. Readers are sure to be swept away. [em]Agent: Karen Solem, Spencerhill Assoc. (July) [/em]