THE LOST MADONNA

Author: Kelly Jones ISBN: 0425214192 2/2007 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: BERKLEY

Thirty years after leaving Florence with a broken heart, Suzanne Cunningham is thrilled to finally be going back to teach art history. While preparing for her course, she comes across something unexpected: a book reveals that a small but significant painting, Madonna and Child, was destroyed in the flood of 1966. But Suzanne knows that isn't true because, with the help of her former lover, Stefano, she rescued the painting—after the infamous flood... Now, back in the magical city that once captured her heart, Suzanne is determined to solve the mystery of what happened to the priceless painting-and to the man who forever changed the course of her life...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

To be completely honest, when I first started reading THE LOST MADONNA, I wasn't sure what to think. It wasn't really a romance novel, it was written in third person and the content switched back and forth from past to present. But as I read, I began to realize that this book was so much more than a romance, and it didn't matter that it was written in third person and that I actually liked the snippets from the past interlaced with the present. Those snippets gave the book an amount of depth that we might not have gotten otherwise. I began to see that a lot of what made Suzanne tick was directly linked to this time out of the past. All of the secrets, the heartaches, the joys that Suzanne had lived thirty years ago, made her who she was today.

And though I don't see this book to be a conventional romance novel, the romance that takes place is beautiful and poignant, making me cry tears of joy for Suzanne. Suzanne is a woman who has gone through so much in her life, but she is no victim. She took the bad circumstances and twisted them around and made a good life for herself, thinking that her past was far behind her. When she accepts a job at a college in Florence, Italy, we see the two worlds collide in one of the most powerful stories that I have read in some time. No stone was left unturned as we delve into secret lives of the people and the betrayals from Suzanne's past.

This book is beautiful and thought-provoking, and when I was finished reading, I was immensely happy with how things played out. Kelly Jones has a new fan in me. THE LOST MADONNA has a little something for everyone, so do yourself a favor and go out and grab your copy!

Kristal Gorman