** PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS THE ENEMY OF LOVE ** Italy 1943 The village trattoria, Casa Maria, is famed for its food and for Elena, the formidable matriarch who runs it. But now war has come to Umbria. Sophia di Luca cooks brilliantly and expects to take over the trattoria from Elena one day. But instead it is charismatic, unpredictable Giorgio Capaldi who has inherited it and now arrives from Rome to run it. While Sophia and Giorgio clash, the town falls under Nazi occupation. And when no one knows who to trust, it is Casa Maria that becomes the centre for secrets, dangerous passions and ultimately betrayal. ‘A wonderful, joyous book, which really spoke to me about the indomitability of the human spirit.’ Elizabeth Enfield *** Praise for Annabelle Thorpe: 'Unputdownable!' Claire Dyer, author of The Last Day 'A pacy, engaging tale of human weakness and of passion so overwhelming it can make fools of us all' Daily Express

The Italian setting is lovingly described...a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit in times of extreme adversity -- Historical Novel Review
‘A compelling plot packed full of emotion and drama’ * My Weekly *
Buy of the Week * Daily Mirror / Daily Express *
Travel writer Annabelle Thorpe brings her love of Umbria, Italy, to a holiday read of two families living through the war-torn Italian summer of 1943 * Daily Mirror / Daily Express *
An evocative, beautifully written tale of love and community. The perfect immersive holiday read * Sussex Life *

Annabelle Thorpe has been a travel and features journalist for over twenty years, spending six years on The Times Travel desk, before becoming deputy travel editor for Express Newspapers, and then taking the same role at the Observer. She was named one of the top 50 travel writers in the UK and has visited almost sixty countries, including crossing China by train, driving solo across the Omani desert, and nearly getting run over in Tripoli. Her first novel, The People We Were Before, was set in the Croatian civil war of the 1990s, her second, What Lies Within, is set in Marrakech. She has also written two travel books. Home is rural Sussex, with her husband and cat, although she remains a Londoner at heart.