Brass Dolphin

From Publishers Weekly
As readers might surmise, even when she writes under a pseudonym and chooses an exotic setting, Trollope is not one to succumb to the conventions of a standard romantic novel. In this first of her historical novels to be published here, Trollope/Harvey allows the complexities of human nature to influence a credibly bittersweet ending. In 1938, when 20-year-old Lila CunninghamAfrustrated by her poverty-stricken life in a small English town near the North SeaAlearns that her cheerfully feckless father has lost their house to the bank, she appeals for guidance to the elderly, childless Perriams, a couple who employ her as a research assistant. The Perriams seize upon a solution: Lila and her father will become caretakers of Villa Zonda, a house they own on Malta. After an arduous sea voyage, the Cunninghams discover that the dilapidated mansion is brimming over with a large, exuberant peasant family. Also to her surprise, Lila is pursued, quietly and steadily, by a young Maltese schoolmaster, Angelo Saliba. But Lila has eyes only for the two dashing nephews of snobbish Count Julius Tabia, though she knows that the titled family will never fully accept her as a wife for either of them. The advent of WWII forces Lila to move beyond dreams to action. Under the tutelage of Miss de Vere, a formidable presence in the English-speaking community, she works at a hospital caring for the wounded; at Villa Zonda, she scrapes together meals and grows ever closer to Carmela, the ambitious, English-speaking young daughter of the peasant family. But a part of Lila still clings to her romantic dreams, and only after a series of deaths and a postwar trip to a victorious Britain does she realize she is truly independentAand, most surprising of all, content. Trollope's compelling and perfectly paced story is capped off with a satisfyingly realistic and ambiguous conclusion. (Sept.) FYI: This is the first of Trollope's Caroline Harvey novels, all previously published in the U.K., to be issued here. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Turning away from contemporary fiction (Other People's Children), Trollope as Caroline Harvey introduces the first novel in her new historical series. During World War II, Lila Cunningham, a na?ve young English heroine, comes to terms with the gap between the life she dreams of having and reality. The novel opens in 1938 as Lila faces financial ruin because of her father's recklessness. The Perriams, scholars who employ her but are more like grandparents to her, force Lila to accept a house, the beautiful but tattered Villa Zonda, on the island of Malta. When she and her father arrive, Lila is introduced to the class-based culture of the Maltese and falls in love with the wealthy and snobbish Ferroferrata brothers. The prospect of marriage helps Lila survive the war. As the Maltese discover their sense of nationality at the end of the war, Lila realizes that everything she wanted and loved is just an illusion. Trollope creates memorable characters while capturing the fear, suffering, and devastation of Nazi raids on Malta. Recommended for all public libraries. [For a different kind of novel set in Malta during World War II, see Nicholas Rinaldi's The Jukebox Queen of Malta (LJ 5/1/99).AEd.]AAmanda Fung, "Library Journal.-AAmanda Fung, "Library Journal" Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Joanna Trollope is critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic for her crisply sympathetic novels about English life. In this novel, written under the pen name Caroline Harvey, she shifts into a romantic genre with a passionate novel of a young woman coming to terms with life, love, and loss on the island of Malta during WWII. No matter that the story often slips into predictability; narrator Virgina Leishman excels. Her fine, textured reading turns an enjoyable, yet predictable, novel into a wonderful listening experience. Her intelligent use of inflection and shaded changes of tone keep the listener involved and committed to the characters. Even guessing how the story would be resolved did not stop this listener from being engrossed by the narrator's version of this romantic tale. Leishman is a captivating talent. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
From a popular author comes the first volume in a projected series of historical novels. This one spans the years 1938 to 1945 and introduces a delightful young woman who comes of age during the war. When 20-year-old Lila Cunningham learns that she and her impractical artist father face financial ruin in England, she reluctantly accepts the offer of a home (owned by her elderly employers) on the island of Malta. As life in the once grand but now dilapidated Villa Zonda unfolds, Lila takes a job with a British count and falls in love with Anton, one of his nephews, whose charm and wealth seem to promise her all the culture and comfort she always dreamed of. But during the long bombing campaign that Hitler wages against the Maltese in retaliation for their allegiance to Britain, Lila learns that appearances are deceptive. She finally comes to accept the unqualified devotion of Maltese native Angelo. This quintessential gentle read harkens back to the books of Elizabeth Cadell and D. E. Stevenson. Nancy Pearl


From Kirkus Reviews
A Bantam hardcover in 1997, published under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey, this first of a series vividly details the tough lessons about love and life a young Englishwoman learns on Malta during WWII. As usual, Trollope's characters are originals with as many flaws as virtues, but mostly they can change, plus act courageously. This they do on the island that received the George Cross, Britain's highest civilian honor, for its citizens remarkable bravery under enemy attack. In 1938, 21- year-old Lila and her father must accept her British employer's offer to take care of a villa on Malta; Lila's Pa, a sometime artist and perennial bon vivant, has spent all their money. The Villa Zonda is run-down, the people are initially hostile, and the way of life is unfamiliar, but Lilas lot improves when she starts working for Count Julius, a local historian, in his splendid home. She meets his nephews Anton and Max, and falls in love with Anton. When war breaks out, Max enlists, as does Anton, who asks Lila to wait for him, and existence on Malta becomes increasingly perilous. The Germans bomb the island continually, their fleet surrounds it, food is scarce. Lila works in a hospital with the indomitable Miss de Vere, who, contemptuous of Count Julius and his nephews, counsels that there is more to life than luxury. Although Lila seldom hears from Anton, she doesnt consider handsome schoolmaster Angelo as a suitor. At least not yet: She has more heartbreak to endure and more tough decisions to make. But character, as it should, wins out. Intelligent historical fiction with characters strong enough to compete with the events they're illuminating, by a master of the genre (Other Peoples Children, 1999, etc.). -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Available in America at last--the first of Joanna Trollope's long-awaited historical series--An enchanting story of a young woman who must learn the difference between hope and illusion, set against the exotic backdrop of World War II Malta

With her bestselling novels about the emotional dynamics of family life, Joanna Trollope has garnered devoted fans in England and the United States. Her sensitive and unerring portraits have earned her rave reviews. Now she brings her memorable characters and complex family dramas to the first of several historical novels that Viking will publish--The Brass Dolphin, a rich, complex, and wonderfully engaging love story set amid the drama of World War II.

It is 1938 and a young woman and her father are faced with financial disaster. With the loss of their home imminent, Lila Cunningham and her father have no choice but to accept the offer of a house in Malta. It is on this hot, ancient island, in the magnificent but crumbling Villa Zonda, that Lila must face the fears and devastation of impending war and learns both to overcome that fear and, in so doing, the value of true love.

Both harrowing and romantic, The Brass Dolphin combines the best of Joanna Trollope's keen and complex portrayal of the human condition with her ability to describe the passion and suffering in a dramatic corner of Europe during World War II.

"[The Caroline Harvey historical novels] are excellent books. . . . The Brass Dolphin is an account of the extraordinary experiences of the Maltese during the war. . . . By the end of this well-researched novel, Lila (our heroine) has changed and learned a lot, and so will those who read about her."--The Sunday Telegraph


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