That new novel .......Sigi and the Italian Girl

Now I remain in awe of those who write fiction, which I think is far more challenging than writing factual accounts of the past.

To begin with it demands the ability to create characters with depth which are convincing and who you feel you could know.

And that is what Stephen Hale as done in his novel Sigi and the Italian Girl, which is set in a small Italian village north of Genoa and alternates between today and 1944.

At which point I have to confess this is only a partial revue, given that I only got the book on Monday and have read about 10%, but that is enough to be gripped by the plot, and believe in the characters

Added to which Stephen describes perfectly what a small Italian village is like.

Part of my family is Italian and we regularly spend chunks of the year in the north, and while his village is imaginary it is drawn from his own experiences of a small rural community and chimes in with real places I know.

So there you are.

I shall return with a final review when I have read it, but rest assured the plot and end will not be revealed, for that you will just have to buy it.

It's available in two formats: paperback at £7.99 and Kindle at £2.99.*

* Sigi and the Italian Girl, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigi-Italian-Girl-Stephen-Hale/dp/1545431876/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534927648&sr=8-2&keywords=sigi%20and%20the%20italian%20girl