The Memory of Villa Freiberg

Until the day she died, the infamously stingy Rosemary Severini lived by herself in Villa Freiberg. With no friends or family, the villagers could only gossip about the inestimable art collection that her wealthy grandfather was said to have amassed.

So when, upon Rosemary’s death, local architect Elisabeth is called to create a foundation of the villa, she is ill-prepared for what she finds: a house filled with rubbish, not a trace of art. It turns out that the Villa is shrouded in secrets, like the divided Freiberg family, who found refuge in Tyrol, a no-man’s land between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

Elisabeth is determined to unravel Rosemary’s past, starting with the few clues she left in a locked trunk: a gold ring and photographs of a nameless child, born with a handicap. Memories of sibling love linger in the dusty rooms and lead Elisabeth to a clinic in Innsbruck, where the horrors of Aktion T4 were perpetrated in the name of a perfect race.

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France (Fleuve éditions)