🌼 Review: The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy @fionavalpy 🌼

"There are seasons of grief, just like there are in the garden...a frozen winter that it seems will never end; then a spring that, when hope returns, bringing with it the promise of summer. But there's an autumn too. A letting go. A time when you start forgetting again. I suppose without that ending there can be no new beginning. It's nature's way.'

The Cypress Maze, a historical fiction is set in the period of second world war and 2015. Inspired by real places and real people, this novel takes into Italy. Alternating between these two timelines, this novel tells the story of Beatrice, Francesca, and Tess. The bonds of friendship and grief tie all these women together, though they are of different age, and one of them is long gone.

Fiona Valpy is an amazing storyteller. There is a poetic way that she writes her books, and the reader can connect with the characters. It's realistic, and though the ending is not exactly what we envisioned, it feels right. She is one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint at all. The characters of The Cypress Maze will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you, Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley, for this book, and all opinions are my own.

CW: Assisted dying, grief, war

I loved this book so much and thought it was one of the best historical fiction books that I have read in awhile!! I loved the imagery, the storyline, all of it.

This book is yet another set during WWII but gave a perspective that I hadn't encountered before. Beatrice Crane is a young Scottish woman working as a nanny in Florence when war breaks out trapping her in Italy under Mussolini. Beatrice is imprisoned as a possible 'spy' and then released with nowhere to go and shunned as an 'enemy'. In desperation she presents to the local Red Cross and is given sanctuary at a Tuscan villa where she assists with caring for children evacuated from the city.
Fast forward 70 years, and Tess is in deep grief. Her husband has just been taken from her through 'voluntary assisted dying' after being struck down with Motor Neurone Disease. Her grandmother sends her off to Tuscany to a villa where her childhood friend Beatrice is a live in caretaker. Beatrice, is now quite frail and requiring a companion to assist her with the day to day running of the villa.
Tess agrees to assist Beatrice with the recording of her memoir of the war years and together they revisit the past and console each others grief.
A lovely, touching story about love, loss and the burden of grief.
Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing/Amazon Publishing UK for my opportunity to read this digital ARC.

I'm a huge fan of Fiona Valpy. I enjoyed this dual timeline story immensely. Engaging characters and heartfelt tale.

I always love a Fiona Valpy book, and this one was no exception. This was a moving story, extremely well-written, with great insight on love and loss. Loved the dual timeline. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This is a dual timeline story, set during WW2 and 2015, both parts are set in the Villa delle Colombo in Tuscany.

In 2015 Tess, still not over the loss of her husband, going to the villa, hoping it’ll help her overcome the grief she’s feeling. She meets Beatrice, who is a guardian of the villa as well as a friend of Tess’s grandmother. They soon become friends and Tess begins t write abut Beatrice, what happened when she was there during WW2.

The story then goes back to 1940, when Beatrice arrives in Italy for work, she loves everything about Italy. But soon the war begins, and she’s stuck, unable to go to Scotland, her home. Thinking that she’s the enemy, she’s arrested, but later released.

The villa becomes the place where she’s safe, along with lots of other people, including children. Those that own it, along with Tess, and their workers, grow food and provisions, as well as taking care of the villa, they do all they can to not be noticed, but, soon, that gets harder and things get difficult.

Now in 2015, Beatrice did her best to find out about who will now be the owner of the villa, she gets a message that someone named Marco, who is the son of the person inheriting is coming. But his plans are for something different altogether, he is going to demolish it and build a golf course on then land.

The author Fiona Valpy keeps you hooked, wanting to continue reading to find out what happens next.

I highly recommend this book.

Tess the protagonist of this story, arrives at a villa in Italy, to be a companion for an elderly lady who is a warden for the property . Tess has had a lot to deal with in the last few months and the thought of Italy sounds great. As she gets closer to Beatrice, she's entrusted to record her story from war torn 1943. Beatrice has suffered herself, but the villa and it's grounds hold dear memories that have kept her going.and one big secret that has always been on her mind....
Until Marco, the heir of the villa, decides that the land can be developed. He has a very negative view of it and that is down to his father and how he was after being a refugee at the villa years before. He needs to know Beatrice's story before it's too late....
This story was so emotional that I had to use my tissues throughout the book!. I was tearful, angry, sympathetic and worried in equal measure. Some of the subject matter was so sympathetically written that I felt such emotion when reading this.
It's a real gem of a book.
I received this arc book for an honest review.
#Netgalley. #lakeunionauthors, #fionavalpy.

Beatrice moves to Italy to work as an English tutor, with the threat of war clouds looming she isn't worried until she finds herself stranded in the country and declared an enemy alien. Beatrice is very lucky to meet Francesca, she takes her home to Villa delle Colombe and to meet her husband Edoardo. He knows the peace in the valley won’t last, he and his workers build a maze made out of cypress and it’s his backup plan. Francesca takes in children, who have lost their homes due to the war, soon the children are rosy-cheeked and healthy. When the Allies sign an armistice with Italy, their peaceful valley in Tuscany becomes ruled by the Germans and the fighting gets closer.

The story has a dual timeline and it’s told from the two main characters Beatrice and Tess’s points of view and from 1940 to 2015, seventy five years apart and it's easy to follow.

Tess arrives at Villa delle Colombe for a holiday, Beatrice is an old school friend of her mothers and is delighted to have her stay. Tess is a young widow, she’s struggling with the death of her husband and Tuscany is the perfect place to find some solace. Beatrice is notified the new owner of the villa has been found and Tess helps her get it ready and make him feel welcome. Marco is a young man from Rome, he's walking around taking photos and notes and they have a horrible feeling he’s going to sell it to a developer.

Beatrice decides it’s time for her to share her war time experiences, she asks Tess to write it down for her, and she discovers it was safe haven not only for Beatrice, local men hiding from being conscripted, children, members of the resistance and an allied soldier. Maybe this will help Beatrice make peace with the past, Tess as well and for Marco to understand the villa was a safe haven for his father as a child.

I received a copy of The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy from NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK in exchange for an honest review. Once again Ms. Valpy has written a historical fiction story that makes you feel a connection with the characters and what happens to them. Set in beautiful Tuscany, you can picture in your mind the rose and vegetable gardens, children playing in the maze and Silvana cooking pasta in the kitchen.

I found it interesting reading about how the estate was self significant, growing it's own fruit and vegetables, and during the hard war years they gathered herbs, mushrooms and other plants, and when food and medicine was scarce. It’s also a story about grief, something Beatrice has experience with and she’s helps Tess cope with her feelings of loss and the maze's secret is finally reveled. I have been a fan of Ms. Valpy's since I read her first book, The Beekeeper's Promise, she written another interesting dual timeline story you can totally immerse yourself in and five stars from me.

A dual time line novel that moves between 2015 and 1943 Tuscany as Beatrice tells Tess the story of the villa where she lives even as Marco, who has inherited it wants to tear it down to build a golf course. Beatrice's story- the story of how she along with the owners of the villa hid children during the war- is more compelling that that of Tess who is very much the mechanism to leverage out the history. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Another wonderful book from Fiona Valpy, she has the ability to bring the past and present seamlessly into our minds. This book is so descriptive if the area that I spent time after reading googling the area and mentally preparing a trip to Tuscany.
In 1940 during the fascist reign in Italy, Beatrice is given shelter at Villa del Colombe, she assists the owners in their garden and later when refugee children come to take shelter too, but secrets are all around as they're unsure who to trust.
In 2015, Tess joins Beatrice as a companion to her but also to heal after the death of her husband. But when the owner of the villa tells of his future plans, Beatrice realises that her lobgheld secrets might just come back to surface.
This is a heartbreaking tale from both timelines but a great enthralling read nonetheless

Set in glorious Tuscany, The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy is an achingly beautiful dual timeline story about love, loss, home and hope. The writing is lovely and immersive, the setting divine.

Beatrice had hopes of teaching English in Tuscany in the 1940s but war changed the world forever. She was unable to leave so took refuge at Villa delle Columbe with its breathtaking gardens. She wasn't the only one who understood the therapeutic healing properties of the gardens. Her life took on a completely different turn than she had ever dreamed.

In 2015, Tess deeply mourned the loss of her beloved husband and desperately needed refuge of her own. She arrived at Beatrice's property and took great pleasure in wandering the gardens. But the absentee owner, Marco, also arrived with grandiose plans which would destroy the peace and tranquility. Tess and Beatrice were horrified at the prospects. Secrets from the past and present revealed themselves and the characters experienced hardships and healing. The cypress maze symbolism is gripping and unique.

Dual timelines can be confusing if not written skilfully but that is not the case here. The author seamlessly blends the two with just enough back story and present to fascinate and enchant. The Tuscan descriptions are painted so gorgeously I was transported back there in a second. I like the subtle power of the story, too. My only wish was for more character development in the present timeline. However, the novel is well worth getting lost in.

My sincere thank you to Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this wonderful book.

A very different aspect of the actions that took place in the Second World War. The setting is a villa in Italy used to house children who were refugees. A depiction of life then for those living there. It is cleverly retold in two time lines .

This book is told in two timelines, set in Tuscany, Italy.

Tess is grieving from the recent loss of her husband, and decides to go to the Villa delle Colombo in Tuscany to stay with her grandmother's best friend, Beatrice. Beatrice has been the caretaker of the villa and its gardens since the second world war. As the owner of the villa returns, and threatens to upend Beatrice's peaceful life, Beatrice realizes she must share the stories of the past in the hope of protecting the future, When Tess and Beatrice become friends, Beatrice tells her how she came to live at the villa, and Tess writes down her story.
Since 1940, Beatrice, originally from Scotland, had been travelling and working in Italy. In 1943, when the Italians were drawn into the war, she finds herself unable to get back home. After being held imprisoned for a short time, she is released, and tries to find somewhere to stay. After wandering a while she finds the villa and is welcomed by Francesca and her husband, who along with their workers, harvest food and tend to the grounds.
As Beatrice's story unfolds, Tess learns of the terrible times when the area was occupied, and how Francesca took in many children as evacuees from Turin and other cities that were being bombed. The children were young, scared and without their families. As food becomes scarce and non-Italians and especially Jews were being hunted down, Francesca works hard to keep Beatrice hidden and everyone in her care safe. The cypress maze, planted in the rear of the wonderful gardens at the Villa, is a focal point of the good, bad and horrible aspects of the war.

I really enjoyed this book, with its great characters, wonderful descriptions and beautiful setting. Despite detailing some horrific war time events, it managed to convey the sense of hope that Francesca and misfit community held on to. The two timelines worked well and the stories of Tess and Beatrice complimented each other well.

A great read.

A haunting tale tells the story of two women life's. I usually am not too much of a fan of dual timelines but in this case it worked and I think added depth to the story.

“We always know our firsts….But we rarely know our lasts until it’s too late.”

Three things I love about this haunting story full of wartime secrets:
(1) The well-thought-out title/villa name
(2) Fiona Valpy’s writing style
(3) An extremely engaging historical fiction read

The juxtaposition of the beautiful gardens and young love against the backdrop of war kept me spellbound. I loved how Valpy tucked her story up into another story and left plenty for the reader to unravel. Curiosity got the better of me and I was driven to Google MND, La Citta Sotterranea, La Foce and Iris Origo. I love books that prompt me to research!

I loved the messages about being willing to ask for help, about reaching out to help those less fortunate, and about living in the moment. I also appreciated the reminder that sometimes we have to face the past to embrace the future and that there’s no expiry date on finding happiness.

This will be one of those books that I know I’ll read again and again … and learn something new each time. It’s definitely one of the best historical fiction books I’ve read this year.

I was gifted this copy by Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

History comes alive in this brilliant, highly-imaginative, and vivid novel. Immersive and revelatory and a pleasure to read!
Engaging and exciting from the beginning. A very realistic feel for the reader.

I have read and enjoyed all of Fiona Valpy's books. I find them engaging and well researched and this was no different. The story was really engaging, and I was completely caught up in it. The setting was glorious and I would very much recommend.

The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy is an example of a book that executes the dual timeline plot line extremely well indeed. The first timeline is set in 2015 where we meet Tess. Her husband has recently died of MND and her grandmother arranges for a grieving Tess to work as a companion and carer for Beatrice Crane, an old school friend of hers who lives in Tuscany, Italy.
The second timeline starts with the outbreak of World War 2 and we follow Beatrice's story. Beatrice who is working in Italy finds herself trapped with the outbreak of war. It is too late to get out of the country. She is rescued by Francesca who takes her to live in the "Villa della Colombe" where she lives with Francesca and her husband Edourdo. Francesca keeps Beatrice's British nationality a secret. She also has other secrets to keep and other people to protect .
Both Tess and Beatrice are wonderfully developed characters and I found myself equally invested with both timelines. I was immersed in Italy at two points in time the author the descriptions and the atmosphere was so real. The plot left me thinking more about what ordinary people had to endure during the war, the sacrifices they made, and the many acts of heroism that are now forgotten.
I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed it very much.

This is an excellent read even though there are some difficult issues incorporated into the storyline. it is a dual timeline story and the contemporary figure has to watch and then deal with the grief she experiences when a partner commits assisted suicide as they suffer from MND. She is comforted by a Scottish lady who has lived since before WW2 in Italy and who has her own grief to handle yet who has found a way to thrive in a Tuscan estate. As the book switches from modern day to wartime Italy, a gripping narrative based on historical circumstance unfolds. The estate becomes a haven for a group of children orphaned by warfare and is a symbol of resistance to the local fascist ruling powers. In modern day, the secrets hidden at the end of the war are uncovered and in doing so, people attain a level of peace and acceptance after their grief. The book gives a lovely flavour of rural Tuscan life. A really fulfilling story. You may need a handkerchief at the end.

What a great book. I was gripped from the start and was not disappointed about how the story unfolded and linked. I loved the main characters. Would definitely recommend