Blog Tour: ‘Hotel Portofino’ by J P O’Connell

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Hotel Portofino’ by J P O’Connell.

Thanks to Random Things Tours and Simon and Schuster for inviting me on the tour and for the copy of the the book in exchange for an honest review.

From the Publisher:

A heady historical drama about a British family who open an upper-class hotel on the magical Italian Riviera during the ‘Roaring 20s’.

Hotel Portofino has been open for only a few weeks, but already the problems are mounting for its owner Bella Ainsworth. Her high-class guests are demanding and hard to please. And she’s being targeted by a scheming and corrupt local politician, who threatens to drag her into the red-hot cauldron of Mussolini’s Italy.

To make matters worse, her marriage is in trouble, and her children are still struggling to recover from the repercussions of the Great War. All eyes are on the arrival of a potential love match for her son Lucian, but events don’t go to plan, which will have far reaching consequences for the whole family.

Set in the breathtakingly beautiful Italian Riviera, ‘Hotel Portofino’ is a story of personal awakening at a time of global upheaval and of the liberating influence of Italy’s enchanting culture, climate and cuisine on British ‘innocents abroad’, perfect for fans of ‘Downton Abbey’ and ‘The Crown’.

My Review:

Welcome to the Hotel Portofino! Doesn’t it look glorious? Sunny and beautiful…somewhere you can leave your cares behind. The perfect place for the British Ainsworth family to set up an exclusive hotel catering to high-class guests.

Except it is 1926 and Italy is struggling under the corruption of Mussolini’s fascist regime. Plus the Ainsworths are still reeling from their own personal tragedies caused primarily by The Great War – and their finances aren’t looking too healthy either. The family have pinned their hopes on their son, Lucien, marrying the wealthy Rose Drummond-Ward who is coming to stay as the novel opens…what can possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, it seems!

This novel pulls you in from the opening moments – it’s a gorgeously sun-drenched slice of historical fiction. Think ‘Downton Abbey’ with limoncello and beaches. Think ‘Eldorado’ with posh people and…no, maybe I’ll stop there as I’m showing my age!

It has already been developed as a TV series for ITV/Britbox so clearly someone else could see the potential for it as a historical drama series (with just a dash of soap opera, I’d suggest!) The fact that this novel is labelled Volume I also shows distinct promise as I’d definitely be up for more.

The novel starts out with real ‘A Room with a View’ vibes – Italy, Baedeker, sniffy chaperones, posh Brits abroad, art and love. I’ll admit that this sold it to me instantly because Forster’s 1908 novel is my favourite book and I could see so many lovely parallels.

However, it takes a distinctly darker turn with the involvement of the local corrupt police force and the rather irredeemably awful Danioni – plus some anti-fascist campaigners, a dash of violence, some casual racism and a lot of sinister secrets. Throw in the trauma of war and we are a long way from Lucy Honeychurch’s Florence – although we do have the ingredients for a fabulous story of love, betrayal, greed and relationships.

I’ll admit that I enjoyed every bit of this sprawling story peopled with an extensive and diverse set of characters. Some I loved – I was behind Nish every step of the way, adored Gianluca, was rooting for Constance – while others I loved to hate. Some blended into the background a little – I could only cope with so many characters – while others were front and centre in my mind and will stay with me. Some were nuanced and subtle, others cartoonish in their villainy (you’ll know who I mean!)

All good.

One little niggle was that I didn’t feel that some of the women had the same depth and authenticity as some of the other characters. I never choose to read based on the gender of the author (I’d actually assumed J P O’Connell was a woman. He isn’t!), but a couple of things in descriptions of women jolted me out of the fictionalised world and felt like a male take on women rather than genuine female experience. This isn’t a criticism – the characterisation is absolutely great for the purposes of the narrative and maybe other readers wouldn’t feel the same as me anyway – but it did surprise me enough to Google the author. To reiterate – not weird or bad, just a surprise and one I thought worth mentioning.

Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who likes their historical fiction with a sumptuous setting, lots of lively characters, plenty of action and a glimpse at the darker side of life. There is a lot to enjoy here and I definitely suggest you read it ahead of the launch of the TV series…which I’ll also be watching avidly!

About the Author:

J.P. O’Connell is a writer and editor who lives in South London. He was previously Books Editor for ‘Time Out’ magazine, and has written for a variety of newspapers including ‘The Guardian’, ‘The Times’ and the ‘Daily Telegraph’.