- Home
- Fiction
- Contemporary Fiction
- In Love and War
In Love and War
Alex Preston’s third novel is a tale of love, heroism and resistance set against the stunning backdrop of 1930s Florence.
Out of stock
Shipping to: UK & EU
UK Standard Delivery: £3 - 2-3 business days
UK Premium Delivery: £5 - Next working day delivery
EU Standard Delivery: Calculated at Checkout - 10-12 business days
Orders are sent by Royal Mail (UK) or FedEx / Deutsche Post (EU) and are tracked
Free delivery (UK) on orders over £35
Join Faber Members for 10% off your first order. Use code members10.
Summary
Desperate to prove himself to his politician father, Esmond Lowndes is sent to Italy to forge ties between the British Union of Fascists and Mussolini’s government. In Florence, he discovers art and passion amongst the eccentric expatriates and glamorous locals. But with the coming of war Esmond chooses to leave his past behind and joins the Florentine resistance. Finding himself closely bound to his comrades and unexpectedly in love, Esmond becomes involved in undercover operations and assassination plots, culminating in a final mission of extraordinary daring.
Critic Reviews
Rich in historical detail and utterly compelling.
Critic Reviews
Exhilarating ... Preston's flair for recreating atmosphere and contemporary speech is immaculate. Many layers enrich and deepen the story ... The combination of setting, Renaissance art and two mutually attracted foreigners may remind some of The English Patient. Preston asks the same question as Michael Ondaatje: what is left of civilisation after the inhumanity of war? Today, "David" still stands in Florence, an imperturbable rebuke to an epoch of torture and terror.
Critic Reviews
[R]ich and evocative ... powerfully affecting, ambitious in its scope, precise in its attention to detail and infused with a love for Florence and its motley eccentrics - their courage and their suffering.
Critic Reviews
It's a title befitting an epic, and Preston emphatically delivers in this, his third novel but his first foray into historical fiction. That he's a natural at it is clear .... Vividly imagined and richly atmospheric, Preston's dramatic tale propels the reader towards a tense and tragic final showdown.
Critic Reviews
Moving ... Preston writes, in unaffected but affecting prose, of Lowndes' realisation of what the times demand of him.
Critic Reviews
Preston's prose is as eloquent, and as atmospheric, as always. The perfect read to pair with that first sundowner.
AlexPreston
Alex Preston was born in 1979 and lives with his family in London. His first novel, This Bleeding City, was an international bestseller, won the Spear’s and Edinburgh first book awards and was selected as one of Waterstones New Voices 2010. His second, The Revelations, was shortlisted for the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize. Preston writes and reviews for GQ,…
Read MoreAlexPreston
More books by Alex Preston
Also Recommended
Browse a selection of books we think you might also like, with genre matches and a few wildcards thrown in.