After reading the synopsis of The Lost Story of Via
Belle by Melanie Dobson I wanted to read her newest book.
The Lost Story of Via Belle has two timelines,
1940’s and 2006, and three heroines.
Olivia is a writer in the 1940’s.
Her pen name is Via Belle, and she is much beloved by her readers. Izzy is a young college student at a
university where Olivia was invited to speak about her writing. Fast forward to 2006 and meet Harper who
currently working as a housekeeper for a Hollywood producer. Harper has ambitions to be a screenwriter and
is hoping to get a break, if only someone will give her a chance. But when her plan falls apart, she packs up and
goes to Pennsylvania to stay at her aunt’s home. Harper is hoping to find the right story that
she can pore herself into and prove herself as a successful screenwriter.
The lives of these three women will intersect. The lives of both Olivia, an older, wise and mature
woman, and Izzy, a young and naïve woman, are impacted by Simon Farrow. A man who may not be who he represents
himself to be. As Simon’s life starts to
unravel and he loses control, their lives will be upended. Sixty years later Harper starts digging into
the mystery of what happened to Via Belle, hoping to find a story. What she finds may be a whole lot closer to
home than she could ever imagine.
When I wasn’t reading, I found myself thinking about the
characters and wondering how the story would turn out. The dual timeline in this book took a little
time to get used to. My affinity for the
various characters changed as the story progressed. The character I struggled with the most was
Harper, perhaps because of her immaturity and self-focus. I was very surprised by the changes in Simon.
I struggled to understand why Oliva and
Izzy were so slow to wake up to the truth that was staring them in the
face.
The story was interesting and there were some twists and turns
I didn’t expect. The book seemed to drag
at the beginning and the end. But in
between I was drawn in by the story.
While there were aspects of faith in the story, it was not
deep. I found that surprising since Olivia
had been married to a pastor. At one point
in the story, Oliva, “wanted to hear God’s whisper in the breeze. Words that spoke to her heart. Why had He stopped speaking to her?” Reading that concerned me because doctrinally
that is not sound theology. Today, God has
spoken to us through in the Bible, the word of God. If Oliva wanted to hear God speak, she should
have opened the Bible and read it out loud.
There were aspects of the book that I liked and characters
were interesting. Yet, I didn’t fully understand
the characters Olivia and Izzy and even Harper. I would have liked to have seen the Christian
faith better developed in the characters and storyline.
If you like mystery, intrigue, historical fiction, or are a
fan of Melanie Dobson’s books, you may want to read The Lost Story
of Via Belle. This book will be published on April 14, 2026.
I would like to thank Tyndale Publishing and NetGalley
for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of The Lost Story of Via
Belle by Melanie Dobson.
I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.
