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The Garden of Angels

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The Garden of Angels

By: David Hewson
Narrated by: Richard Armitage
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About this listen

At his beloved Nonno Paolo's deathbed, 15-year-old Nico receives a gift that will change his life forever: a yellowing manuscript which tells the haunting, twisty tale of what really happened to his grandfather in Nazi-occupied Venice in 1943.

The Palazzo Colombina is home to the Uccello family: three generations of men, trapped together in the dusty palace on Venice's Grand Canal. Awkward 15-year-old Nico. His distant, business-focused father. And his beloved grandfather, Paolo. Paolo is dying. But before he passes, he has secrets he's waited his whole life to share.

When a Jewish classmate is attacked by bullies, Nico just watches - earning him a week's suspension and a typed, yellowing manuscript from his frail Nonno Paolo. A history lesson, his grandfather says. A secret he must keep from his father. A tale of blood and madness....

Nico is transported back to the Venice of 1943, an occupied city seething under its Nazi overlords and to the defining moment of his grandfather's life: when Paolo's support for a murdered Jewish woman brings him into the sights of the city's underground resistance. Hooked and unsettled, Nico can't stop reading - but he soon wonders if he ever knew his beloved grandfather at all.

©2021 David Hewson (P)2021 W. F. Howes 20th Century Historical Historical Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Emotionally Gripping

Critic Reviews

"Gripping and powerful, The Garden of Angels richly evokes the tension and threat of Nazi-occupied Venice. A moving and important novel.” (Tess Gerritsen, author of The Shape of Night)

"Vivid and compelling. A richly wrought thriller, a love story and a warning that spans decades. I was thinking about this book for days." (Sarah Pinborough, author of Behind Her Eyes)

All stars
Most relevant
a story is so well written I felt like I was there. I really loved this.

So immersive

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Heart wrenching, gripping, page turning, mind altering story which reminds us to look deeper, and remember.

Amazing

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Hewson takes you on a journey of discovery, makes you fall in love with Venice and feel for every character and the ethical dilemmas they face.

I can't recommend this enough. Armitage's narration is superb from characterisation to evoking pathos. I will listen to him again.

Haunting, Evocative and Compelling

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beautiful story . it has it all - mystery, romance, courage and I enjoyed the narrator too, despite the Scottish accent.

wonderful story

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I wish I had finished this before a recent trip to Venice. Though fiction, new insight into an obvious history would have had me seek out different alleyways to get lost in and given more meaning to the memorials I did see. Great work again, Mr Armitage!

Before visiting Venice

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