The House at the Edge of Night
The House at the Edge of Night
Author: Catherine Banner
Desc: A sweeping saga about four generations of a family who live and love on an enchanting Mediterranean island off the coast of Italy—combining the romance of Beautiful Ruins with the magical tapestry works of Isabel Allende. Castellamare is an island far enough away from the mainland to be forgotten but not far enough to escape from the world’s troubles. At the center of the island’s life is a café draped with bougainvillea called the House at the Edge of Night where over generations the community gathers to gossip and talk. Amedeo Esposito a foundling from Florence finds his destiny on the island with his beautiful wife Pina whose fierce intelligence grace and unwavering love guide her every move. An indiscretion tests their marriage and their children—three sons and an inquisitive daughter—grow up and struggle with both humanity’s cruelty and its capacity for love and mercy. Spanning nearly a century through secrets and mysteries trials and sacrifice this beautiful and haunting novel follows the lives of the Esposito family and the other islanders who live and love on Castellamare: a cruel count and his bewitching wife a priest who loves scandal a prisoner of war turned poet an outcast girl who becomes a pillar of strength a wounded English soldier who emerges from the sea. The people of Castellamare are transformed by two world wars and a great recession by the threat of fascism and their deep bonds of passion and friendship and by bitter rivalries and the power of forgiveness in this richly written and powerful novel. Catherine Banner has written an enthralling character-rich novel epic in scope but intimate in feeling. At times the island itself seems alive a mythical place where the earth heaves with stories—and this magical novel takes you there.