Two Women In Rome is a novel by Elizabeth Buchan, published in 2021.
I love Rome and its rich history and beautiful architecture so I was really keen to read this book. Elizabeth Buchan is the bestselling author of titles such as I Can’t Begin to Tell You and Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman, which was later made into a CBS Primetime Drama.
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Plot
Newly married Lottie moves to Rome to be with her husband and is hired to work as an archivist, sorting through papers and artefacts people have left behind. After finding a seemingly valuable painting, Lottie is drawn to find out more about the woman who left the painting behind. Lottie discovers that Nina Lawrence, a successful botanist, seemed to have led a rewarding life, restoring Italian gardens to their former glory following the destruction of WW2. And yet when she tragically died in 1978, nobody attended her funeral. There was clearly more to Nina’s life than it seems.
Lottie explores Nina’s past, her loves and losses and develops an attachment to the woman she never even met. As she finds out more about Nina’s life (and death) Lottie is forced to confront the losses and traumas in her own life.
Two Women in Rome Book Review
The story is told on dual timelines as we read from both Lottie and Nina’s points of view. This is done really well and there’s no confusion when switching from one timeline to another.
There are multiple themes running throughout the story including botany, religion and the political turmoil of post-war Italy. Having visited several Italian cities, including Rome, I have always been in awe of the beauty of the country, but I had little knowledge of the politics of the nation. It was interesting to see the connection and battles between politics and religion.
The story is one of love, intrigue and danger and I enjoyed the female focus within the story. Both women were so brave and I loved the loyalty Lottie showed a woman she never even met.
The plot was intricate and at times felt a little slow. There were interesting developments but no real shocks or twists to the story. I found myself wanting to know what happened to Nina but I felt slightly detached from her story. It was hard to feel emotionally connected to her until a development at the end of the story. I think this perhaps may be due to the detached style of some of Nina’s sections as she jotted down thoughts in her notebook. However, it did have a satisfying ending with all loose ends tied up.
It’s clearly a very well written and researched book but I didn’t love it as much as I would have liked.
What to read next
If you enjoyed Two Women in Rome, I’d definitely recommend reading more novels by Elizabeth Buchan, such as Bonjour Sophie and Against Her Nature. I would also suggest reading Still Life by Sarah Winman which is such a fantastic read.
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