The Curse of Pietro Houdini
A Novel
-
- $14.99
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
A vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult—that “has the ring of truth and the echo of myth…[deserving of] all the lucky readers who discover it” (The Wall Street Journal).
August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving a bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and makes him an assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls.
But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a vivid cast of characters and together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans.
Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, this is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed art heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a poignant coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Danger lurks everywhere in Derek B. Miller’s coming-of-age historical novel, set in World War II Italy. When self-described chemist, painter, and scholar Pietro Houdini rescues a 14-year-old orphan from a senseless beating, he wastes no time giving his ward a new name (Massimo) and enlisting him to his cause: protecting three precious Titian paintings from Nazi looters. Can Massimo believe Pietro’s fantastic stories? We loved tagging along as these two lovable characters navigate adventure and explore deep truths about art, human nature, and the practicalities of wartime survival. Miller has a real talent for historical accuracy and laugh-out-loud humor—we thoroughly enjoyed Pietro’s comparisons between Americans, Italians, French, and Germans! Packed with action and moral complexity, The Curse of Pietro Houdini is like nothing you’ve read before.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A man bent on saving art from Nazi pillagers changes the life of an orphaned Italian teen in the appealing latest from Miller (How to Find Your Way in the Dark). At 14, the unnamed narrator survives the August 1943 American bombing of Rome and is saved from a violent mob by Pietro Houdini, an artist in his late 50s, who names the narrator Massimo. They go to the Abbey of Montecassino, where Pietro's been entrusted to protect the art from the Nazis. He manages to hide three Titian paintings from the Germans, and in the midst of an attack from Allied Moroccans, he instructs the narrator to take the paintings to his professor friend in Naples. The reader learns from a prologue that the narrator's journey is successful. The pleasure is in discovering how the narrator makes it and in coming to know the characters, especially the charismatic Pietro, a man capable of developing a false rapport with the Nazis while hiding artworks from them and also acting fearlessly when trying to protect the narrator. Miller's historical adventure is worth the price of admission.
Customer Reviews
Soooo good
Wow, this book packs a punch. What an adventure, full of passion and danger and discovery. One of the best books I’ve read… perhaps ever!!!
The Curse of Pietro Houdini
When I finished this book I took half an hour to think about it, during which I realized I needed to read it again. I started right away. Of his books I’ve read, five so far, this is the most powerful. You should read it.