The War Ends at Four by Rosanna Staffa is an exquisite novel of loss, love, family ties, and the elusive concept of home.
Renata is an Italian expat living in Minneapolis, working as an acupuncturist. She is married to an American actor, a man who is gone more often than he is at home, pursuing his career and other women. One day, Renata receives an urgent phone call from her younger brother: their father is dying. After seven years away, she is finally going home.
Renata says her last goodbyes to her father and then remains in Milan to attend to post-mortem necessities. Mourning and memories flood her. She grieves again for the mother she lost at an early age. She struggles to reconnect with the brother who she loves but who has grown up since she last saw him. He’s dealing with his own issues and she is no longer the big sister who can fight his battles for him. She bumps into old friends, including an old potential love interest who never worked out and who never could work out. She experiences the thrill of a new flirtation. She moves about Milan letting memories and melancholy wash over her. And she listens to the echo of her father’s voice, telling her to move onward.
The language is beautiful and the emotion deeply felt. Renata will pull you into her world. (And make you yearn to experience Milan for yourself.) Highly recommended.
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