Mark JamilkowskiCritiques

I did not feel like this was historical fiction. It read more like a history book. I expected to find compelling characters but felt instead they were flat and did not engage me at all. The opening set the tone of the book, which was in no way absorbing and as I read further, I kept anticipating a change in pace, which never came. Many of the characters seemed to struggle with emotions resulting in intensely conflictive relationships. While the author made a good effort to help the reader better understand the characters, the dialogue seemed forced at times and did not propel the story forward. I appreciated the historical detail, was impressed with the research, and found the maps beneficial. I got this book as an Early Reviewer for LibraryThing. Thank you to LibraryThing and the author.

This book was slow moving, but it was an excellent story full of history and relationships.

I got this book as an Early Reviewer for LibraryThing. I could not download the book and the author went to a lot of trouble to send me the book in another way.
Thank you again for that Mark.

The book tells the story of a family, starting in Italy and ending in America, from 1910 till about 2021.
To me the most interesting parts were the stories of living in Italy and Germany before and during World War II.
The style of the book was somewhat stilted. I can understand that: the writer has done a lot of research and it is always difficult to rewrite the found information.

This was a vey interesting book. I enjoyed reading the history of the family over a century. At times, the book was difficult to follow. It read more like a documentary than a novel, but it was still an amazing read!

Love historical fiction and this debut novel is a winner! Highly independent, Maria, is way ahead of her time as we follow her trials and tribulations. Emotional and grabbed my interest from the start.

Such a great story of family love, world history, lovely music, and all that makes life worth living. The author has done thorough research for this story. As a history major, I enjoyed the historical themes throughout the story. I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy history, family relationships, and perseverance.

I’m not a huge fan of nonfiction, especially biographies, but this one was pretty excellent! There was a lot of history, and there was love and loss and some truly heartbreaking moments. There were some great moments as well. I really enjoyed reading this book.

First of all, thank you LibraryThing for an arc of this wonderful novel! "The Road to Moresco" by Mark Jamilkowski is his debut novel, and I hope to read many more novels by this talented author in the future. Mr. Jamilkowski reminds me a lot of James Michener. The research as seen in the prologue, the maps included throughout the chapters, and how he connects historical events into the plot made this a truly engaging read. The plot follows the life of Maria-Luisa Moresco and her family. She is a strong-willed woman ahead of her time. She yearns for a life that involves independence from the traditional roles of women during the beginning of the 20th century. There are trials and tribulations throughout, as she and her family navigate the changing times. If you are a fan of well-written historical fiction, I would highly recommend that you add this novel to your tbr list!

Entertaining family saga, set against the background of world events, from early 20th century until present day, concentrating on two courageous and independent women, mother and daughter, the pianist Maria-Luisa and her daughter Chiara/Clara. I liked the author starting off with a thumbnail history of Italy. The story took us from Italy, to Poland, to Germany, then the U.S. Why was Arsenio not even mentioned in the family tree? After all, he and Clara were married for 37 years. I thought his wisdom valuable and helped keep the volatile Clara on an even keel. And Mark--why was he only a question mark in the family tree?

Thoroughly enjoyed this one and highly recommend it to any woman who needs a renewed sense of empowerment!