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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
I’m a huge fan of the series "Downton Abbey" and when I read the description of this book and saw that it is especially recommended for fans of the series, I was very intrigued.
Reading "Hotel Portofino" was an entire experience, from the atmosphere of 1926, the descriptions of picturesque landscapes from the coast of Italy, to the unique and extremely captivating characters.
This book seems to me to be the perfect summer read. It really succeeds in transporting you in the middle of the action and make you feel like you are a tourist in the hotel with the rest of the characters.
Reading "Hotel Portofino" was an entire experience, from the atmosphere of 1926, the descriptions of picturesque landscapes from the coast of Italy, to the unique and extremely captivating characters.
This book seems to me to be the perfect summer read. It really succeeds in transporting you in the middle of the action and make you feel like you are a tourist in the hotel with the rest of the characters.
I need to create a new shelf of books whose purpose I don't understand. Because why, exactly, did I spend 12 hours listening to all this family and political drama only to get... nowhere? What is the point of everything if, in the end, things are in exactly the same place they were when the book began?
The only thing that this novel did for me is put Portofino on the list of places in Italy I want to see. It's - at least in part - atmospheric, sort of cozy in a summery way, good as beach read. A little bit of nature, the sea, the beach; a little bit of food, some limoncello on top. It made me miss Cinque Terre.
Everything else... was underwhelming. There's a lot of drama going on at the Portofino Hotel, a British enclave on the Mediterranean coast. Bella Ainsworth, the owner, is trying to keep the business alive, dealing with the increasingly growing expectations of her British clientele. Her marriage is on the rocks, due to her own indiscretions and her husband's dandy life and excessive spending. Her son, Lucian, is refusing to get a job, despite being an adult; he also has probably some PTSD from his life-threatening wound which he got in WWI. His parents are trying to arrange a marriage between him and a rich British girl, but he seems to prefer the servants. There's also a missing painting and some political unpleasantness caused by Mussolini's black shirts.
Everything has the making of a fun British soap-opera with Downton Abbey vibes and yet everything is just started and left unfinished. There are a lot of characters and plot lines (besides the "main" family drama, each guest at the hotel has their own - and there are many and diverse), but none which you can say is the red line, the focus. Something that would work well as a TV series (I understand there is one), but not so much as a one-and-done novel.
Because of this, many things are just thrown into the mix as "hooks", but not really explored. Such as Nish's sexual orientation (a bit of gay-baiting, let's throw some homosexuality into the mix because "we have to", but don't go anywhere with it), also Nish's involvement with the anti-fascist movement (just left in the air, nothing came out of it), the entire political context (it barely affected the story, it was just there to... what? make Bella give some bribes?), Constance's story (and how can she get away with not really working she she is supposed to), the tennis player's story, Alice's religious fanatism and love life, even Bella's affair... Many, many narrative threads, none of them resolved in any way, shape, or form. So, as I said in the beginning, there's no point to the book except to exist.
Too many characters, not enough characterization. And I had an "aha" moment when I finished the book and found out that the author is a man, because I could not understand how a woma6n could write some of the dialogue between women, which sounded artificial, plasticky.
To resume: beautiful cover, promising premise, lovely atmosphere. But too many characters and plot lines, none of them fully developed or concluded in any way. It felt exactly like watching a TV soap, that was poorly translated into a novel.
The only thing that this novel did for me is put Portofino on the list of places in Italy I want to see. It's - at least in part - atmospheric, sort of cozy in a summery way, good as beach read. A little bit of nature, the sea, the beach; a little bit of food, some limoncello on top. It made me miss Cinque Terre.
Everything else... was underwhelming. There's a lot of drama going on at the Portofino Hotel, a British enclave on the Mediterranean coast. Bella Ainsworth, the owner, is trying to keep the business alive, dealing with the increasingly growing expectations of her British clientele. Her marriage is on the rocks, due to her own indiscretions and her husband's dandy life and excessive spending. Her son, Lucian, is refusing to get a job, despite being an adult; he also has probably some PTSD from his life-threatening wound which he got in WWI. His parents are trying to arrange a marriage between him and a rich British girl, but he seems to prefer the servants. There's also a missing painting and some political unpleasantness caused by Mussolini's black shirts.
Everything has the making of a fun British soap-opera with Downton Abbey vibes and yet everything is just started and left unfinished. There are a lot of characters and plot lines (besides the "main" family drama, each guest at the hotel has their own - and there are many and diverse), but none which you can say is the red line, the focus. Something that would work well as a TV series (I understand there is one), but not so much as a one-and-done novel.
Because of this, many things are just thrown into the mix as "hooks", but not really explored. Such as Nish's sexual orientation (a bit of gay-baiting, let's throw some homosexuality into the mix because "we have to", but don't go anywhere with it), also Nish's involvement with the anti-fascist movement (just left in the air, nothing came out of it), the entire political context (it barely affected the story, it was just there to... what? make Bella give some bribes?), Constance's story (and how can she get away with not really working she she is supposed to), the tennis player's story, Alice's religious fanatism and love life, even Bella's affair... Many, many narrative threads, none of them resolved in any way, shape, or form. So, as I said in the beginning, there's no point to the book except to exist.
Too many characters, not enough characterization. And I had an "aha" moment when I finished the book and found out that the author is a man, because I could not understand how a woma6n could write some of the dialogue between women, which sounded artificial, plasticky.
To resume: beautiful cover, promising premise, lovely atmosphere. But too many characters and plot lines, none of them fully developed or concluded in any way. It felt exactly like watching a TV soap, that was poorly translated into a novel.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
where is the rest of the story? where is the happy ending?
En historisk välskriven läsning av hög klass. I denna bok följer vi den engelska Bella och hennes familj (maken Cecil, dottern Alice och sonen Lucian) i Portofino där de öppnat ett hotell i sann engelsk anda. Miljön är idyllisk och på utsidan verkar livet perfekt, men verkligheten är långt ifrån vad det ser ut. Under en sommar får vi följa hur Bella hanterar och tacklar alla de enorma problem som uppstår en efter en. Boken utspelar sig 1926, i Italien som sagt, vilket om man är bekant med historien var en tid då Benito Mussolini styrde Italien med en järnhand. Vi får möta de svartklädda fascisterna och deras våldsamma sätt att inhysa skräck och makt över Italiens invånare.
Under denna sommar får vi stämma bekantskap med flertalet mycket intressant gäster och även arbetarna på hotellet. Det är en brokig skara karaktärer som alla sticker ut på sitt sätt. Mycket olycklig kärlek får vi läsa om och det gör ont i hjärtat av hur samhället såg ut på 20-talet. Rasism är ett återkommande ämne i boken, väldigt välskrivet och så viktigt ämne. Boken lyfter även den svåra efterkrigstiden, hur kriget har påverkat alla på något vis och vilka spår detta har satt. Även åtta år efter det slutade.
Om ni älskar Downton Abbey och liknande historiska kostymdraman, så ska ni definitivt läsa denna bok. Har även gjorts en tv-serie inspirerad av boken, vilken jag faktiskt får säga gör boken rättvisa. Så ett tips till de som, jag själv inräknat, inte får nog av denna värld
Under denna sommar får vi stämma bekantskap med flertalet mycket intressant gäster och även arbetarna på hotellet. Det är en brokig skara karaktärer som alla sticker ut på sitt sätt. Mycket olycklig kärlek får vi läsa om och det gör ont i hjärtat av hur samhället såg ut på 20-talet. Rasism är ett återkommande ämne i boken, väldigt välskrivet och så viktigt ämne. Boken lyfter även den svåra efterkrigstiden, hur kriget har påverkat alla på något vis och vilka spår detta har satt. Även åtta år efter det slutade.
Om ni älskar Downton Abbey och liknande historiska kostymdraman, så ska ni definitivt läsa denna bok. Har även gjorts en tv-serie inspirerad av boken, vilken jag faktiskt får säga gör boken rättvisa. Så ett tips till de som, jag själv inräknat, inte får nog av denna värld
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sujuvaa ja mukavaa luettavaa, joskin ei mitään mieleenpainuvaa. Teosta vaivaa myös lievä tunnelmasokeus: onko kirja historiallinen hömppä, vakava historiallinen hömppä, ahdistava naisen oikeuksien romaani, piikatytön kasvutarina...jne. Toki monia genrejäkin omaavia kirjoja voi olla, mutta niiden pitää olla hieman parempia kuin tämä. Tälläistä on kiva lukea kesäisessä auringonpaisteessa terassilla, kuvitellen lomailemassa hahmojen mukana.
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Racism, Violence, War