J.P O’Connell – Hotel Portofino

I was invited to the blog tour for Hotel Portofino. After reading the synopsis and seeing the cover of this beautiful book I obviously jumped at the chance. Just have a read at the synopsis before I give you my thoughts on this gorgeous read.

A heady historical drama about a British family who open an upper-class hotel on the magical Italian Riviera during the ‘Roaring 20s’.

Hotel Portofino has been open for only a few weeks, but already the problems are mounting for its owner Bella Ainsworth. Her high-class guests are demanding and hard to please. And she’s being targeted by a scheming and corrupt local politician, who threatens to drag her into the red-hot cauldron of Mussolini’s Italy.

To make matters worse, her marriage is in trouble, and her children are still struggling to recover from the repercussions of the Great War. All eyes are on the arrival of a potential love match for her son Lucian, but events don’t go to plan, which will have far reaching consequences for the whole family.

Set in the roaring 20’s in Italy. This is almost a Downton, but in a hotel in Italy. I adored the setting. A hotel I would have loved to have visited during this time. J.P O’Connells’ descriptions of the hotel on the inside and even outside made this such a compelling and enthralling story.

There is a vast array of characters that begin with the owners and their adult children, Bella,Cecil, Alice, and Lucian and the rest of the staff, who are all unique characters in their own right. Then we have the guests,who are at times quite colourful, difficult, and demanding. The biggest issue is one Lady Julia Drummond-West, a lady whose daughter, Rose, has been chosen by Cecil to be his sons wife.

The story follows the ups and downs of the hotel and the occupants. J.P O’Connells writing brings this story to life. He captures the tiniest details from every angle of the book. His characters are vividly brought as close to reality as possible, sharing their back stories, hopes, and dreams makes them relatable, matter what time period they are from.

Hotel Portofino also delves into the historical period of Italy in 1926 and the changes after the Great War for everyone. We see how the war has affected the Hotel Portofino owners and their children. The rise of Mussolini and the problems that all these differing factors cause for certain characters in the Hotel. I always appreciate historical context as I am a history geek and this just truly made Hotel Portofino such an outstanding read for me.

A book with a bit of everything, glamour, love, loss, blackmail and even theft. I was whisked out of dreary England and to the warmth of Portofino. I didn’t want to leave, but I reached the end far too soon. A beautiful book that certainly immersed me from start to finish.

Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Simon & Schuster UK for my gifted copy of the book.

.