#TheSecretDiaryofRome #NetGalley
Pub date: 01 September 2026
Historical fiction
My thoughts:
I often enjoy dual time line novels and so was quite interested in this story that takes place both in the 1960s and earlier. I was intrigued by the connection to Lizzie Siddal, the muse of whom I have heard, and the Pre-Raphaelites. It was definitely interesting to watch as the two stories came together.
Those who enjoy historical fiction, books that talk about books, and those who enjoy reading old diaries, as well as those, who enjoy a mystery, may want to give this title a look.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Description:
from the publisher
A hidden diary. A story that’s waited a hundred years to be told . . .
1960, New York.
Emilia Rinaldi restores broken books for a living. She knows how to bring lost stories back to life.
The one story she cannot repair is her own.
Then an unexpected gift from her late mother arrives — an antique music box containing a faded photograph and a torn page from the diary of Lizzie Siddal, the tragic Pre-Raphaelite muse and wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Emilia follows the clues to Rome. To an abandoned villa left by a grandmother she never knew. To a collection of rare and beautiful books, hidden in a church crypt through the war . . . And a secret buried for generations.
As Emilia pieces together her own past, Lizzie’s diary reveals another story. Two Rossetti paintings. One genuine. One a flawless forgery.
Separated by a century, the two mysteries are bound together. And when Emilia finally discovers the truth, she must decide whether some stories are meant to be preserved . . . or buried forever.
A spellbinding, dual-timeline, historical mystery of family secrets, set between Victorian London and 1960s Rome, is perfect for readers of Kate Morton, Evie Woods, Fiona Davis, and Lucinda Riley.
About the author:
from the Amazon website
M. A. McLaughlin (Marty Ambrose-McLaughlin) writes historical mysteries with women’s fiction elements. She is an award-winning, multi-published author of four historical mysteries set mostly in Italy, drawing on her background in nineteenth-century literature. Marty completed her M.Phil. at the University of York (England) and teaches creative writing at Florida Southwestern State College.
She has edited the FSW literary journal, served on student scholarship boards, and is a member of The Byron Society, Historical Novel Society, Florida Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She currently resides in SW Florida with her husband, retired news-anchor, Jim McLaughlin, and their golden Labrador rescue pup, Luna.
She has also given numerous workshops in the U.S. and abroad on all aspects of creating/publishing a novel; her new novel, The Secret Diary of Rome will be published by Joffe Books in September, 2026.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 