Spotlight for The Keeper of Lost Art by Laura Morelli

 

The Keeper of Lost Art by Laura Morelli

Published: April 22, 2025 by William Morrow Paperbacks

Genre: Historical Fiction, Art, WWII

 

Taken from Goodreads:  During World War II, a girl makes an unbreakable connection with a boy sheltering in her family’s Tuscan villa, where the treasures of the Uffizi Galleries are hidden. A moving coming-of-age story about the power of art in wartime, based on true events.

As Allied bombs rain down on Torino in the autumn of 1942, Stella Costa’s mother sends her to safety with distant relatives in a Tuscan villa. There, Stella finds her family tasked with a great responsibility: hiding nearly 300 priceless masterpieces from Florence, including Botticelli’s famous Primavera.

With the arrival of German troops imminent, Stella finds herself a stranger in her family’s villa and she struggles to understand why her aunt doesn’t like her. She knows it has something to do with her parents—and the fact that her father, who is currently fighting at the front, has been largely absent from her life.

When a wave of refugees seeks shelter in the villa, Stella befriends Sandro, an orphaned boy with remarkable artistic talent. Amid the growing threats, Sandro and Stella take refuge in the villa’s “treasure room,” where the paintings are hidden. There, Botticelli’s masterpiece and other works of art become a solace, an inspiration, and the glue that bonds Stella and Sandro as the dangers grow.

A troop of German soldiers requisitions the villa and puts everyone to forced labor. Now, with the villa full of German soldiers, refugees, a secret guest, and hundreds of priceless treasures, no one knows who will emerge unscathed, and whether the paintings will be taken as spoils or become unintended casualties.

Inspired by the incredible true story of a single Tuscan villa used as a hiding place for the treasures of Florentine art during World War II, The Keeper of Lost Art takes readers on a breathtaking journey into one of the darkest chapters of Italy’s history, highlighting the incredible courage of everyday people to protect some of the most important works of art in western civilization.

 

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A Little About Laura Morelli…  (taken from her website)

• Earned a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University
• Combined my intellectual passions at Yale with a Mellon Doctoral Fellowship in art history and a Bass Fellowship for writing in the humanities
• Am a USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling historical novelist, with book club picks at Target, Costco, Veranda Magazine, and Hudson News
• Taught college students across the U.S. and in Italy, have produced art history lessons for TED-Ed, and now teach exclusively online in my Art History Academy
• Have been a regular contributer to National Geographic Traveler, Italy Magazine, Departures, and other media
• Have earned awards for my historical fiction (an IPPY, Eric Hoffer Award, Da Vinci Eye Prize, National Indie Excellence, Benjamin Franklin, Writer’s Digest, others), as well as starred reviews and editor’s picks in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, the Historical Novels Review
• Have had the privilege to live and work in five countries
• Have enriched the experiences of many travelers over two decades with my Authentic Arts shopping guidebook series
• Enjoy my home on the coast of Georgia, my husband, 2 sons and 2 daughters, and our large, boisterous extended family. Make a mean risotto. Love to pet all fur babies, but have a weak spot for flat-faced dogs and fluffy cats