It feels like a fairy tale when Alberta ”Bert” Monte receives a letter addressed to “Countess Alberta Montebianco” at her Hudson Valley, New York, home that claims she’s inherited a noble title, money, and a castle in Italy. While Bert is more than a little skeptical, the mystery of her aristocratic family’s past, and the chance to escape her stressful life for a luxury holiday in Italy, is too good to pass up.
At first, her inheritance seems like a dream come true: a champagne-drenched trip on a private jet to Turin, Italy; lawyers with lists of artwork and jewels bequeathed to Bert; a helicopter ride to an ancestral castle nestled in the Italian Alps below Mont Blanc; a portrait gallery of ancestors Bert never knew existed; and a cellar of expensive vintage wine for Bert to drink.
But her ancestry has a dark side, and Bert soon learns that her family history is particularly complicated. As Bert begins to unravel the Montebianco secrets, she begins to realize her true inheritance lies not in a legacy of ancestral treasures, but in her very genes. ~taken from Amazon
Well, this novel took a turn I wasn't expecting it to. It was an exciting genre turn and one I don't normally like, but the way the author wrote it, I was swept away... it was so completely believable.
This is my first book by Danielle Trussoni and to be honest I am already trying to fit other books of hers into my reading lineup.
She just has a way of setting the scene. I honestly felt like I was in an ancient castle surrounded by Alps, roaming abandoned rooms and digging through family heirlooms, trying to figure out this dark family secret. The characters were so well thought out and perfectly placed throughout the story. No unnecessary characters to learn about and get in the way of "the meat of the plot". Every character had a purpose, which I appreciated.
Like I mentioned at the beginning, this book entered a genre that I wasn't expecting, but I honestly loved it and cannot imagine a better way for the story to wrap up. It has a creepy, weird, dark and haunting atmosphere from beginning to end. I loved it!
The Ancestor is available now to read! It is the perfect quarantine read! A 5 star book for me!
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishers for allowing me an eARC to read and give my honest review.
Happy Reading!
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