Two Women in Rome

Name: Two Women in Rome
Rating: 4.1 (2441 reviews)

by Elizabeth Buchan

First published 2021

Amazon

4.1(2,441)

Archivist Lottie Archer arrives in Rome and discovers papers linked to Nina Lawrence, a British woman who restored Italian gardens after the Second World War and died in 1978 with almost no one to mourn her. A valuable fifteenth-century painting and gaps in the surviving record draw Lottie into an investigation of Nina’s private life, relationships and unexplained death.

The historical strand unfolds in a Rome unsettled by political violence, espionage and hidden institutional loyalties during Italy’s Years of Lead. As Lottie reconstructs Nina’s story, romance and archival mystery develop into a political thriller whose secrets connect personal betrayal with the tensions of 1970s Italy. The dual narrative keeps the modern investigation distinct from the historical events it uncovers.