The Broken Heart Refuge 1 - Betrayal - Martina Munzittu

***** Broken hearts… in series

After the novel “A Deal with a Stranger” and the novella “Incompatible Twins”, Martina Munzittu engages in a classic romance, in which the emotional suffering of the protagonists, however, are always accompanied by irony typical of her writings, to which dramatic, skilfully measured elements are added. But the real peculiarity of this novella (indeed, almost a short novel) is that it is to all intents and purposes the pilot of a series.

But let’s proceed in an orderly fashion. The narrated events revolve around some sort of association for mutual assistance among women (and men) with the most diverse love problems, founded by Nonna Pina, an Italian old woman living in London, and called “The Broken Heart Refuge”. The series has got an episodic development, i.e. within each instalment two “cases” are followed that are solved before its end. At the same time there are some subplots that I suspect will be developed over the next few episodes. In addition, towards the end you see a new character, who anticipates the next episode. The format is undoubtedly perfect. The two stories go on in parallel, with a fairly sustained pace, forcing the reader, thanks to the light and compelling style of Munzittu, to turn one page after another, until they come to the conclusion. The whole thing is peppered with humorous elements, which manage to get more than a laugh, and others that lead to more serious reflection. In the background the present-day London, glimpses of daily life and well-known locations.

The result fully meets the good premises. In this particular episode, titled “Betrayal”, you deal with this very common theme in the sentimental sphere from two very different perspectives, even opposite, but always in a measured and convincing way, thanks to the sensitivity of the author who manages once again to entertain us and even get us a bit angry together with her characters.

The brevity, on the one hand penalizes the deepening of the stories and the characters, but at the same time allows the reader not to have to wait too long to see their curiosity fulfilled about how it will end, and leaves them with the desire to read more stories like this.

The Broken Heart Refuge 1 - Betrayal on Amazon.com.