The Curse of Pietro Houdini

A man bent on saving art from Nazi pillagers changes the life of an orphaned Italian teen in the appealing latest from Miller (How to Find Your Way in the Dark). At 14, the unnamed narrator survives the August 1943 American bombing of Rome and is saved from a violent mob by Pietro Houdini, an artist in his late 50s, who names the narrator Massimo. They go to the Abbey of Montecassino, where Pietro’s been entrusted to protect the art from the Nazis. He manages to hide three Titian paintings from the Germans, and in the midst of an attack from Allied Moroccans, he instructs the narrator to take the paintings to his professor friend in Naples. The reader learns from a prologue that the narrator’s journey is successful. The pleasure is in discovering how the narrator makes it and in coming to know the characters, especially the charismatic Pietro, a man capable of developing a false rapport with the Nazis while hiding artworks from them and also acting fearlessly when trying to protect the narrator. Miller’s historical adventure is worth the price of admission. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Jan.)

This review has been updated to remove a spoiler.