Casalvento (House of the Wind)

Casalvento (House of the Wind) by Gudrun Cuillo 312 pages

 

I love novels set in Italy; it is such a beautiful country with rich, varies and wonderful traditions; As soon a I knew Gudrun Cuillo’s book, Casalvento, was set in Italy, it became a must-read. Like any good novel, it sent me down the Google rabbit hole of researching the “House of the Wind.”  I learned that it is set in the real Casalvento (House of the Wind) of Radda and Livernano in Chianti Siena, Italy. I am especially appreciative that the publishers include a small map on the inside cover to help me understand exactly where it is located.

 

The protagonist, Erika Germoglio, is so unhappy that she doesn’t know that she is unhappy. Oh, she has a successful consulting business, a high-profile fiancé, an exquisitely decorated Manhattan Upper Side apartment and she finally has se a wedding date. Erika’s life is black and white, literally. The apartment she shares with Craig is decorated in black and white, and the only two colors in her closet are black and white.

 

She has never been busier when she is notified that her grandfather has passed away and left her “Casalvento, a house and a vineyard, and Livernano, a medieval village turned bed-and-breakfast, both in the Chianti region of Tuscany.”

 

A grandfather? She never knew that she had a living relative! And why did he never try to contact her, especially when her parents died? Those answers await willing readers!

 

She heads to Italy, intent on selling everything so she can get back to her real life. However, there is a clause in her grandfather’s that “to keep or sell Casalvento and Livernano, she must live there and learn the business of the two estates for five months.”

Furious and agitated agrees to wait out the will’s terms, then sell it and move on with her life. Especially her long-awaited marriage to Craig.

Unable to relax enjoy the scenery, Erika helps in the winery and the vineyards as the days go by and Erika comes to know the people who worked for her grandfather, she finds herself increasingly drawn to the slower pace of life that Italy offers. Plus, she is drawn more and more to “Paolo, Casalvento's intelligent, compassionate, and strikingly handsome estate manager and wine maker.”

As her feelings for Paolo intensify, she knows she must make her choice between the two men, and the life each has to offer. While Erika struggles to make plans, her grandfather’s lawyer gives her letters, four in total, that he left behind explaining his reasoning.

Although the novel is predictable, there were a couple of gasp-worthy twists that made me keep reading., Casalvento (House of the Wind) receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.