A story told through the generations of a family in Sicily during the 1940s. Would make a good 'holiday' book but not a page-turner for me.

Taking place on an island full of stories, The House at the Edge of Night is a sweeping multi-generational saga filled with romance, betrayal, tragedy and intrigue. It is also a powerful reminder of the bonds of family and community and the resilience of the human spirit in trying circumstances.

Assembled alongside a collection of Italian fairy/folk stories, this novel is richly detailed with a cast of memorable, well-drawn characters who you feel you know so well by the time the story reaches its inevitable conclusion. The events of the 20th century that unfold around the characters on the remote Italian island of Castellamare are dramatic enough, it is the characters and their personal stories, their hopes, their disappointments, the grudges and rivalries that are passed through generations, their tragedies and their resilient spirits that draw you in and stay with you.

I love a family saga and this one didn't disappoint. You feel like part of the Castellamare community by the end and will be sorry to leave them.

The House at the Edge of Night is a sumptuous, well-written and very enjoyable book. One to read on a sun lounger in Sicily with a glass of limoncello easily to hand.

Nice story, the characters are interesting. Lovely descriptions.

I really enjoyed this book - beautifully written with lovely vivid descriptions. I was drawn in from the start of the book and held captivated until the end.

It is set on a small unknown island off the coast of Sicily - I would love to visit this island. The story covers over a century of history where traditional values mean the island has remained unchanged over many years. The story begins with an a foundling baby who is taken in by the doctor and then spans several generations in the lives of this family. The island is separated from modern life and we see the impact of war on this small community. I loved all of the characters and became thoroughly absorbed in all of their stories.

I would highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A story that starts with a foundling baby that no one wants. He is taken in by a Doctor and ends up becoming one himself. Having trouble finding a post once he's qualified he gratefully accepted a post on a little island off the coast of Italy. This book tells the story of 4 generations of his family, but it also tells the tale of how a small community copes with things like the world wars. An interesting read.

This was a slow moving saga covering several generations on a small Italian island. One of those books which you need a lot of spare time to read but you can keep coming and going and still know where you are. Interesting story but very long.

Every time a book blurb compares a new writer to a more established one like Isabel Allende I cringe a little, why put all that pressure on a debut novel that can very possibly stand on its own legs.

But in this case, I must agree, the writing was very reminiscent of Isabel Allende minus the magical realism.

Beautifully descriptive and atmospheric, I could smell the profusion of flowers at the Sant’Agata festival, could taste the limoncello that everyone was drinking. So much life contained in just over 400 pages.

I would never be able to live on an island like that where gossip is a national sport. Every move you make is broadcast in lightning speed. But I did like the charm of an island that felt as if time stood still, barely affected by world events.

I loved the little folk tales dispersed throughout the story that mirrors what the characters were struggling with.

And even though the story centres around one family it felt like this is a story of the island of Castellamare. The lives, loves and tragedies of everyone in this small community spanning over 100 years.

I was enchanted by the characters, very impressed with the writing and a little sad when the story was finished.

Highly recommended.

This book is supposed to be for fans of Victoria Hislop's The Island. I think it is a nothing like it and b equally good in a very different way!

There is a lovely timelessness about the storytelling. As with children's fairy stories and legends there is no sense of what one often finds in a modern book - that there are only a few more chapters and the author must complete soon. In childhood a story could meander and events befall principal characters without being conscious of the end of the book approaching. This lovely tale has that quality. It also has a spot on view of world events and their effects on a small island community.
It starts with a child arriving at a foundling hospital in Italy but most of the story is based on a small island not far from Sicily in measurements but very fair from the mainland and the modern world. The island's new doctor collects stories and fold tales and is interested in local legends about the island's saint - Agata.
This is established long before the First World War and it continues until after the Black Friday of the US which triggered a worldwide recession.
Whereas a British tale would have to cover the introduction of a television in order to watch the Coronation, the islanders have no such viewpoint and their events are more aligned with developments which are imported to improve their island such as a radio set in the 1940s and the rise and fall of Mussolini, the latest coffee machine or sports subscription TV. It is really nice to read it without knowing the past from personal experience.

I think it works so well because the author creates such good characters, they may be flawed as humans but that makes them so really believable and one really cares regardless of whether they are male or female she is spot on in creating them.
The whole work is obviously written with love and after a great deal of research. I just hope it doesn't make for too long a wait for the next book she writes. I was really hooked.

A beautifully written story. It felt like I was there, in the lives of each character and befriended each and every one of them. A great saga with interesting details putting that put together all the stories. I got so absorbed into this book that it only took me three days to finish. Excellent book.

An interesting novel about small island life in Italy before, during and well after WWII, with all the twists and turns of families wrapped up in each others lives as a result of living in a small community. One felt the dilemmas of the families and life in and around the bar/restaurant. Good descriptions of the characters. Very Italian in feel! Not a page turner, but certainly captivating.

A great saga which spans over a century in the lives of the people who live on the tiny island of Castellamare and the occupants of the bar known as the House at the edge of Night.
It has all the ingredients of a great summer read family feuds love and heartbreak.
Couldn't put it down
A real page turner

Amadeus Esposito was a foundling left at the gates of the institution in Florence as a baby but he thrived and with the help of his foster father became a doctor. Looking for a post in which to practice he came across the tiny little island of Castellamare just of the coast of Sicily and decided to move there as its first ever resident doctor.

He soon became part of the community and especially loved all of the folklore mainly based around Agata the island saint, but fell out with Il Conte after his wife declared that the baby she had just born belonged to the doctor and not him and on the same day that the doctor's wife also bore a baby boy, twins with different mothers! Il Conte had him removed from his post and so he took over the abandoned bar - the House at the Edge of night and continued living within on the island he now called home with his family

This book is a great family saga but so much more - it explores the life of living on a small island where the living is very primitive and cut off from the rest of the world - it sounds an idyllic place to live but there are also hardships and the island has to be more or less self sufficient. The community is very close knit but rumours abound and people can suddenly find themselves out in the cold because of believed indiscretions without any proof - I really enjoyed the journey from 1914 through two world wars to the present day

I loved this book, it was very reminiscent of Victoria Hislop's The Island story. You could connect with the characters and feel the atmosphere of the island. It was made more enjoyable by the fact that I was on holiday opposite a small island which added to the atmosphere.

This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed and wholeheartedly recommend. I was immediately immersed in the small island and the people who live there. A definite page turner and had a definite feel good factor. A book to take on holiday and enjoy every minute reading it.. Recommended!

The island of Castellamare lies off the coast of Italy, unchanged over centuries, held together by traditional values and village gossip. We are introduced to island life through the café called House at the Edge of Night, overseen by Pina her husband Amedeo and their children and frequented by the islanders.
The novel spans over a century and is partly a social history about how the events in the world can bring changes to a small community and partly a family saga. The two world wars bring new faces and ideas to the island but also allows fascism to tear the island in two.
This is an amazing and enthralling read which I really did not want to end.

This is a lovely, gentle book covering four generations of a family on an isolated Italian island. The story has a bit of everything, romance, feuds, secrets, war, hardship - it shows the realities of life throughout the centuries and covers a number of interesting historical events. I liked the characters, in particular Maria Gracia and the supporting line up are also funny and beautifully described, giving depth and dimension to the main tale. It's a good Summer read, with intrigue and a story that gathers you in. I genuinely wanted to know what was going to happen.

This book is well written and very interesting but I found it quite slow to get into and thus read it more slowly than I usually do but it is definitely worth a read.

A family saga........the Esposito family and their lives over a 100 year period on a tiny island off the coast of southern Italy. A good story,well told with believable individual stories of members of the family or villagers on the island. The interweaving of the stories is mastered well and all characters are totally believable. The book just went on a little too long for me otherwise it would have been 5 stars.

I loved everything about this book. The setting is magical and the writing style and descriptions very quickly had me totally immersed in the story. This is a story about love and family and an island and its people that endure a lot over a span of nearly a century. It is definitely worth reading. It is a story to get totally caught up in. I feel that this is a book that will be talked about a lot.