Elena Ferrante meets Bernadette of Lourdes in a story of love, loss and belonging, spanning post WW2 Italy through to 90’s England

Italy 1949
At an orphanage in the poverty-stricken Apennine Mountains, 15-year-old Adelina has only one friend – enigmatic, fragile Elisabetta, 11.

When Elisabetta claims to see the Madonna by the river, Adelina has doubts. But after Elisabetta appears to heal a traumatised young soldier, Giulio, who starts to walk again without his stick, crowds flock to witness the mystery of Elisabetta’s miracles.

Adelina can no longer contain her misgivings and seeks out scheming priest, Padre Bosco. The secrets of the past begin to unravel, and Adelina, Elisabetta and Giulio each have to confront who or what to believe.

Soon they face a terrible reckoning which will cause deep ripples in all their lives, reaching across the years to 1990s England.

#BrokenMadonna X/Twitter @AHaywardwriter
 #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #bookX #booktwitter 
Instagram @authorannalucia @randomthingstours #bookstagram #blogtour

Genre
Broken Madonna is upmarket historical/book club, for readers who have enjoyed bestsellers Go as a River by Shelley Read, Small Pleasures by Claire Chambers, The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak and The Wonder by Emma Donoghue.

Readers are also likely to enjoy the relationship themes and impact of religion in the writing of Isabel Allende, John Boyne and Colm Toibin.

Novel themes
Stolen and denied motherhood
Aftermath of war
Child abandonment
Cruelty
Betrayal
Belonging
Religion
Corruption
Strong women versus cruel, self-interested men
Mental health PTSD
Love
Friendship
Devotion
Honesty
Redemption

My Review

What an emotional read. From an orphanage in the poverty-stricken Apennine Mountains of Italy in 1949, to both Italy and England in 1999, this book will leave you in tears, at least it did me. Adelina, aged 15 and 11-year-old Elizabetta are best friends. Fragile and deeply religious, Elizabetta looks to Adelina for support.

When Elizabetta claims to see the Madonna by the River Mollarino, Adelina is sceptical. She thinks her friend is too easily overcome with emotion. But when injured soldier Giulio is ‘healed’, the whole town flocks to see her. She becomes known as The Barefoot Flower Girl of Atina. Her fame spreads and she becomes yet another child to have been ‘visited’ by the Virgin Mary. These appearances are known as the Marian Apparitions, the best known of which is probably Our Lady of Fatima.

You might find this a hard read if you are a committed Catholic. I attended a Convent school in the late 1960s, but quickly became disillusioned due to the attitude of the priests. A bit like Sister Beatrice who believed women were the way forward for the church. Our nuns, unfortunately, were not so forward thinking.

The power of the Church in Italy at that time was total, and many men of the cloth like Padre Bosco were giddy with power, yet repulsively obsequious in the company of their superiors. It’s quite disturbing to observe.

I adored this book and I loved Adelina and her enquiring mind. Elizabetta’s unquestioning faith is hard to stomach at times, and even though Sister Beatrice is a strong woman, she is still spiteful towards Adelina, rapping her over the knuckles with a ruler when she struggles to read. I became very invested in their lives.

I love the cover by the way.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Born in England to older Italian immigrant parents, Anna Lucia spent long, hot summers in the Apennine mountain village they had left behind to escape poverty and lack of opportunity. In the local dialect, she listened to the stories of elderly relatives about a time, place and way of life that was far, far removed from 1970s and 1980s suburbia.

Those voices, particularly of strong women who led tough lives, never went away, neither did the echoes of Catholicism.

Anna has been awarded support for her writing from Arts Council England, and also writes short stories, flash fiction and poetry. She is Chair of Trustees of literature development agency, New Writing South.

Says Anna ‘I’m self-publishing the novel (as Fluency Publishing) to coincide with my 60th birthday in November 2024, with a birthday launch planned at the Duke of Yorks cinema in Brighton, with a showing of my favourite film, Cinema Paradiso.

‘For a little more about me, please see my website. Please note this is my work website – my author website annalucia.co.uk will be live soon.’