The War Ends at Four

I have never been to Italy but, thanks to Rosanna Staffa's novel, "The War Ends at Four," I have visited Milan in the excellent company of the returning emigre, Renata. She must navigate family, a death, old love and new in Italy, and a problematic husband left behind in Minnesota. I found myself re......more

In The War Ends at Four, Renata, an acupuncturist in Minneapolis, returns to Italy to see her dying father and make sense of what remains of her family. The prose in this novel flows like lyrics as it explores the intricacies of subtle social interactions and the dangers of things left unsaid. If you......more

holding on to what scraps you can recover from the past VS marching onward towards the future VS enjoying the unfolding intimate present, moment by moment... the complicated nature of home and belonging, the delicacy of social interaction, the fine balance of interpersonal relationships and the stag......more

I love all things Italian so I had to like this book at least a little for its phrases dropped in Italian, its Milano setting, and its author being locally based. I wanted it to be so much more than it is, but it’s not awful.......more

“After her mother died, Renata used to ask women for directions, when she knew the way perfectly well; she'd told them she was lost so they would be concerned about her. She'd dropped her backpack to get help putting it back on; she'd said odd things in order to be remembered." Discover grief’s comp......more