Hotel Portofino by J.P. O'Connell, coming on PBS

Title: Hotel Portofino
Author: J.P. O’Connell
Publication: Blackstone Publishing, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: Italian Riviera, 1926

Description: Bella Ainsworth set her heart on opening an upscale hotel in Italy – she thinks the change of scenery will solve all family’s troubles –so has coaxed them all to Portofino: her caddish husband, Cecil, who married her for her money; their son Lucian, who nearly died in the Great War, and has still not fully recovered; their spiteful daughter Alice, widowed in the war; and Alice’s daughter, Lottie. Constance March is the new nanny/kitchen maid imported from Ireland (fancy name for a servant). The guests include an old flame of Cecil’s who has brought her beautiful daughter to meet Lucian, a flamboyant black actress, an Italian count, the man who saved Lucian’s life during the war and now lusts for him, and others. There are financial worries, secrets, threats, romance, blackmail, police brutality – as my Latin teacher used to say, “Nihil novi sub sole” or “There is nothing new under the sun.”

Photo credit ITV

Bella has to juggle demanding guests (why did she think they would all be so charming and witty?), fascist locals who demand bribes, a son who carries on with everyone except the young woman destined to be his bride, and a valuable painting which disappears from the hotel under mysterious circumstances.

Every November saw the annual migration of the British upper classes to sunnier climes where they remained until winter passed. Some swore by Cannes, others preferred the Venice Lido or the health benefits of Baden-Baden.  Biarritz came into its own as a sanctuary when the heat on the French Riviera grew unbearable.

The Italian Riviera, by contrast, was relatively undiscovered.  There was a British colony here, of course, where in the world wasn't there one? and the larger hotels even had tennis courts and swimming pools.

But this wasn't the market Bella hoped to attract.

My Impression: While I think this book depicts a lush and appealing setting and a variety of characters that will translate well to Masterpiece as is planned, as fiction it suffers from much the same problem as The Gilded Age, currently on HBO. The costumes and background may be gorgeous but the reader/viewer needs someone to care about.  Every period drama with servants is now compared to Downton Abbey and what made DA work is ignored - that we liked the Crawleys, despite their flaws.  We didn't want Lord Grantham to lose his home or his sense of responsibility for his estate.  We had favorites among the downstairs characters too.  Some even liked Thomas!  And everyone enjoyed the Dowager Countess.  It was easy for the viewer to find someone to care about.

Here, at least Bella is a likable character. She has no need to work but she loves her family (at least her children) and feels that the sunshine and vibrancy of Italy is what they need after the long war and its losses and injuries. She is less thrilled at dealing with their flaws: her husband steals from the hotel’s cash box (admittedly, Bella is foolish not to lock this up), her son debauches the help, her daughter is nasty to harmless Constance – I am not sure I would want to stay at this hotel, although Bella’s cook is getting good at coping with Italian food. As in The Gilded Age, there is a black character with a storyline that may or may not be authentic - she comes to the hotel with her rich white boyfriend, scandalizing all the guests.  Bella yearns for stimulating guests but all she gets are problems.

When I first read about this book, a review that compared it to The Durrells in Corfu, I was intrigued and considered it for my book group. I am glad I read it first. It was certainly a fast read but I did not like the characters and did not really care what happened to them. The author’s research was incomplete. He focused on the lurking threat of Mussolini instead of the way these characters would really have interacted. I can’t imagine that Bella, who moves comfortably in society despite being the daughter of a (rich) brewer, would call Lady Latchmere “your ladyship,” as servants would. Similarly, I don’t think that Constance, hired to be Lottie’s nanny would refer to the child’s mother as Alice instead of Mrs. Mays-Smith (and even if she did it in her own mind, she would certainly not do so to Alice’s brother). Although my description may make Hotel Portofino sound unappealing, I think it will be entertaining to watch when it airs later this year but it will be one of the few instances where the dramatization is better than the book. If this book had been written by Daphne du Maurier or Olivia Manning, it would have been more fun. Hmm, maybe I would have liked it better if written by a woman?

This is my tenth book in the 2022 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader. I will also count it as my “Wanderlust” category for Book Bingo.

Source: Library. Click here for the trailer, which does look appealing!