The Ancestor

I received this book for free free as part of an Instagram tour (TLC Book Tours specifically) I did to promote the book.

Wow. This was one of the most fascinating novels I have read in a long time.

First off, I love that the book description does not give away too much. You get to discover the truth about Bert’s family on your own.

It’s really hard to describe this book because it is so unique and I don’t want to spoil anything. There’s some gothic suspense, but also some family tragedy. Then underneath that there is the element of genetics. It just makes an intriguing combination.

The book is also so beautifully written and encapsulates the creepy gothic vibe perfectly. The author is an amazing storyteller.

Lastly, the book has show more some wonderful descriptions of books and reading. One of the characters states, “These books are like living creatures to me. Caring for them takes a great deal of time. I repair damaged spines…No one ever thinks that books need tenderness, but they do, quite a lot, in fact” (pg. 117). At another point the main character states, “Stories became a place of respite, a refuge from the thoughts that swirled through my mind like acid in a stomach. I clung to these books with the same obsessive need that I had felt for the genepy, reading them with an addictive greed…Had it not been for my time in bed, I might never have come to love books as I had, or developed the desire to write about my own tragic life” (pg 226).

Overall, this is a book you have to read for yourself. I know there will be some people who read it and won’t like it and that’s totally okay. But others will just devour it. It’s a very different book so the only way to know is to read it for yourself. show less

I admit to feeling a little angry after finishing this book.

The publicists clearly knew what they were doing when they marketed it: American learns she is the last surviving member of a dynasty and inherits an estate! Family secrets! Gothic castle high in the Italian Alps! This makes it sound like the type of book that is often my guilty pleasure. But all this has almost ZERO to do with what the book ends up being about. It's just a setup to attract readers.

Major spoilers ahead: The last half of the book devolves into some weird Dances with Wolves type situation that I just can't get my head around. It turns out the family "secret" is that back in the 19th century, an ancestor sired children with an indigenous woman from a tribe of show more simian cave people. The book constantly implies that indigenous people can't survive without white people's know-how and technology, that it's okay to steal their children because it's for their own good (shades of the Carlisle Indian Academy?), that physical disability is inherently bad or shameful, and that mixed-race marriages cause infertility and birth defects. Um, okay. The more I write about this, the angrier I get.

Add to all of this a lack of emotional connection with the main character, plot holes, inconsistencies, and weak writing. I'm glad that I didn't waste my money on this book. The library copy I borrowed showed evidence that some prior reader had abandoned it around the 75-page mark, and I wish I had done so as well. show less

Like her Angelology series, this one is going to get a fairly mixed review from me. It's an interesting enough idea, but there are really a few too many elements of it that stretch credulity to the breaking point, even for a fantastical gothic story. Some bits of the plot just fail to cohere, some of the explanations just don't make sense, &c. So it was a bit of a bummer overall, but with some entertaining bits thrown into the mix.

Alberta Monte is at a crossroads in her life. She has found that her marriage has fallen apart after several miscarriages and a recent stillbirth. Worse, there is no explanation for her inability to reproduce successfully. So, when Alberta receives a letter addressed to the Countess Alberta Montebianco from her family's ancestral land of Nevenero, Italy saying she is the heir to a title, castle and money, she dives in. Before leaving for Italy, Alberta finds out more about why her grandfather left Nevenero and finds a story full of danger, tragedy and folklore. Alberta is whisked away on a private jet to her castle and finds that she has a living aunt and great-grandmother. However, along with the dazzling castle, comes a host of show more dangerous secrets, secrets that Alberta will have to accept and protect.
The Ancestor is a deeply atmospheric Gothic thriller that uniquely combines elements of horror and folklore for a completely unexpected look into family history and duty. The writing slowly and deftly builds tension with unlikely stories, isolation, dangerous conditions and an unraveling of family secrets. Alberta's character is one of immense transformation. Though her transformation does not take a typical route, it is all necessary in Alberta's journey. I enjoyed that the underlying theme was in science, with genetics and finding your true self while discovering your ancestors. I was astounded by the landscape of Mont Blanc and the communities of the Aosta Valley. I could picture the imposing castle casting a shadow on the small towns below, unchanging through the centuries. I can easily imagine how the folklore of the Icemen developed. At some points, I thought I had the mysteries solved, but there were surprises until the very end. The Ancestor is a transporting, surprising story that will take you on a journey like no other.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less

I don’t recall how I came across The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni, but I’m glad I did. For some reason I love to read gothic horror novels in the Summer… you would think I would prefer Autumn… so when I read the description I knew the warm Wisconsin weather would be perfect to counteract the cold temperatures and ice of the Italian Alps.

Trussoni hooked me right away with a mysterious document appearing and Bert needing to seek out her husband’s grandma, a woman who’s never liked Bert and you just know is a master at giving the evil eye, to help her make sense of the papers. She doesn’t get too much information but she does get more shade thrown at her and her family. Then we have a lawyer step in who seems like a dream show more man, the way he dresses, his manner of putting one at ease, and who’s free with giving out new clothes and large stacks of cash. Even with all the gothic horror that I’ve read I would have totally signed up to take a trip to a castle far away where all the townsfolk hated my family.

Once Bert gets to the castle the weirdness begins and so does the fun and chills for the reader. A mysterious person kind of seen through an upstairs window, gutted animals in a far wing of the house, you know, the things that make a good gothic tale. Trussoni must have read a lot of them because her descriptions and pacing is perfect.

When we finally found out the family secret it took an interesting turn and had me thinking about a favorite series of mine, the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire, so that made The Ancestor even better for me.
I don’t want to give too much away since the enjoyable part of The Ancestor is finding out what each layer contains, but I know I will be reading her next book no matter what it’s about. show less

This is exactly the type of story that I want to be reading when I’m stuck inside with the pandemic in full force.

Bert Monte lives in New York at the start of the novel. Very early in the story, she receives a fancy piece of mail informing her that she is the last living relative of the Montebianco family and that she has inherited the family’s castle, estate, fortunes, etc. In order to receive her new inheritance, she must appear in person at the estate and speak with the family’s legal team. When Bert arrives at the dark and beautiful property high in the remote Alps, she finds that she is essentially trapped there. She also discovers that the Montebianco family has some seriously big secrets.

At first, The Ancestor reads like a show more mystery-thriller, but it has a wonderfully dark, atmospheric, gothic vibe. Not like a historical mystery, mind you, although the age of the castle and the surrounding areas sometimes make it feel like there is definitely some history in there somewhere. There is a place in the story when things take a little bit of a turn in tone, and then it feels more like a creepy horror story.

I absolutely loved it. I could not stop turning the pages.

I love the level of suspense that is present for the entire length of the novel. Every chapter practically begged me to read another, and another, and so on. I actually ended up reading the book in two long chunks, which was exactly what I wanted. The chapters are short, though, so if you need to read little snippets here and there, that would be fine too. Only I thought that being able to inhale the story pretty much all at once made it more suspenseful and made me curiouser and curiouser about what was coming in the next few pages and chapters.

I liked Bert so much. How odd would it be to have your entire life uprooted because you find out you’re part of a family that dates back to Medieval times? How odd would it be to realize that your relatives (and perhaps even YOU) aren’t what you originally thought? Let me tell you, I felt for Bert. But I also couldn’t look away from her story.

I think sometimes when we hear the word “gothic” we immediately think of stories like Jane Eyre or Dracula. And okay. But that’s not what this is. It’s creepily fantastic and a little bit strange and I loved it to pieces.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you, William Morrow Books! show less

The Icemen Goeth, Not Fast Enough

Going about her life in a small upstate New York town, Alberta “Bert” Monte receives a letter that informs her she has inherited an estate in northern Italy in the shadow of Mount Blanc. When she’s finally persuaded to investigate her good fortune, she discovers not only an isolated, distressed, eerie fortress castle, but also answers to some perplexing questions, among them, why she and her estranged husband, Luca, cannot have children and her anomalous feet, so large and flat she usually keeps them shod. What starts as a gothic novel soon turns into encounters with the long sought after Yeti and her family’s relationship with these mysterious icy humanoids.

Admirers of Danielle Trussoni’s show more Angelology series, along with fans of gothic literature and horror in general, may find her The Ancestor disappointing. The reason, sad to say, is that while an interesting idea, the pace and set pieces lack any real excitement. After readers discover the secret kept by the Montebianco family for centuries, the novel really begins to creep to a very pale conclusion (though not so conclusive that a sequel might not be possible). Even discovering the true nature of the fabled Abominable Snowman, according to the novel, and learning their history can’t perk up the novel.

Unless you really can’t wait a second more for the next iteration in Trussoni’s Angelology series and must read something by her now, you may want to pass on this one. show less