It was a romantic dream, and here it is coming true. At the age of 48, Bella Ainsworth manages to get her husband and children to leave Britain and open a small family hotel in the beautiful fishing village of Portofino, on the shores of the Italian Riviera. These are the twenties of the last century, the memory of the First World War still pulsates and burns, and here - a new world opens up. But the new employment does not eliminate what is apparently left behind and Bella soon discovers that despite the heart-expanding setting, the pain that was her share in Britain, accompanies her in Italy as well. The son who returned hurt from the battlefield and seems to have lost his way, the attempts to survive financially in a time of uncertainty, and above all - an ancient trouble that accompanies her wherever she goes: her unfaithful, abusive, violent husband. The diverse line of guests that frequents the hotel slowly reveals the overt and hidden motives of its occupants. Who is jealous and who has already given up, who is having a forbidden affair, who is busy with tricks and who is hiding a heart-breaking secret - all of these are woven into a human and bubbling fabric that stands in complete contradiction to the calm, sometimes breathtaking view that can be seen from every room in the hotel. Then one thing happens that changes everything. Hotel Portofino is a warm and hopeful book, about the ability to change even when there seems to be no chance, about the importance of following the heart, even if the path is unclear at first.
