Midwest Review editorial review for Rome’s Last Noble Palace

I’m always thrilled to get a good editorial review from the excellent Midwest Book Review.

Here, below is the full review that went live on their site this month, for my newest release, Rome’s Last Noble Palace:

Rome’s Last Noble Palace follows the lives of two different women who live in different centuries. There’s 1896 American Isabelle, who has been sent to Rome to live with her aunt and be primed for a successful marriage; and, a century later, doctoral candidate Sophie, who can’t believe her good luck in landing a position as an intern in Rome’s Near Eastern Art Museum.

A ghost in the room begins to haunt Sophie’s days, contrasting the worlds and opportunities of 2018 Rome with those of 1896, an era when women were expected to marry well and not much more.

Kimberly Sullivan creates a memorable contrast in social and personal expectations as events move between these disparate worlds. When Isabelle is attacked by a nobleman who feels it is his right to take what he feels he owns, readers will find the tense reflections, revelations, and forces that buffet both women to be thoroughly absorbing, realistic, and thought-provoking. The women confront specters of honorable and dishonorable men and forces that try to dictate their paths in the world. Each confronts the obstacles of their heritage and self-perception which, in turn, lends to new dreams and opportunities proffered only to the brave and savvy.

A ghostly warning from the past evolves to try to prevent a similar happenstance from destroying another woman’s life in the future, and readers will find the juxtaposition of intrigue, social norms, romantic possibilities, and revised interpersonal relationships to be compellingly realistic and satisfyingly unpredictable.

The landmarks and hallmarks of Rome come to life through a blend of historical accuracy and Sullivan’s personal familiarity with the city, capturing the milieu of urban projects and the specter of its Palazzo Brancaccio, Rome’s Last Noble Palace.

Libraries and readers interested in novels replete with vivid insights on art, women’s lives, and historical currents of change that move through Roman affairs will find delightfully realistic and compelling Rome’s Last Noble Palace‘s study of two seemingly disparate, yet connected women whose lives dovetail in unexpected ways.

See the link to the review