TLC Book Tours Book Review: Midnight At The Tuscany Hotel

About Midnight at the Tuscany Hotel

Paperback: 352 Pages

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 9, 2019)

A once-beloved hotel and a fountain whose water suddenly can restore lost memories. But is it a miracle, or are there strings attached?

The Tuscany Hotel was once a haven for young artists. A place full of inspiration and a work of art in and of itself, the hotel was built by Robert Gandy for his wife, Magdalena: a woman of beauty beyond description who was orphaned as an infant in Florence and grew up without the ability to remember. A tragedy caused the hotel to close its doors, however, and it has been years since the fountain in the courtyard ran with water and inspiration.

Vitto Gandy, Robert’s son, returns from the horrors of World War II to a wife who fears him, a son who is too young to remember him, and a father whose memory of him is fading. As Vitto faces the memories that torture his heart and mind, his father runs off in the night to seek solace in the last place he was happy: the Tuscany Hotel. Instead of finding ruins, he discovers that the water in the fountain has begun to run again. And as he drinks it, his memory returns.

Filled with Alzheimer’s patients hoping for restored memories rather than artists longing for inspiration, the hotel is once again a source of life and art. But nothing is truly as good as it seems, and the mysterious gift of the hotel comes with a price that each must determine they’re willing to pay. Bursting with beauty, art, and inspiration, Midnight at the Tuscany Hotel is a story of parent and child, husband and wife, and the joy and pain of what it means to be alive.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About James Markert

James Markert lives with his wife and two children in Louisville, Kentucky. He has a history degree from the University of Louisville and won an IPPY Award for The Requiem Rose, which was later published as A White Wind Blew, a story of redemption in a 1929 tuberculosis sanatorium, where a faith-tested doctor uses music therapy to heal the patients. The Angels’ Share is his second novel, and he is currently working on his next historical, All Things Bright and Strange. James is also a USPTA tennis pro, and has coached dozens of kids who’ve gone on to play college tennis in top conferences like the BIG 10, the Big East, and the ACC.

Connect with James

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Review: This book is so emotional, at least for me it was. Within the first 30 pages my heart was breaking, for Vitto and his PTSD and for his father who was suffering from Alzheimer's

The Tuscany Hotel is a very special place and it becomes even more so as the story goes on.  Once upon a time, artists found refuge there, now it seems to be a place where people with dementia can go and find their memories again.

Anyone with a relative or loved one that suffers from that disease will long for the story to be true. I can think of two close family members who I would have loved to see remember their children. 

This book was so beautifully written. I've not read many books that are considered part of the magical realism genre, but this one was strangely beautiful or maybe just strange and I don't mean that in a bad way.

This was a wonderful novel that will stick with you for ages after the last page is turned.

Rating: 5 flowers