“I was completely charmed and transported by Return to Valetto.”
- Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins and The Angel of Rome

Winner of the 2023 Best Book of Fiction Prize from the Texas Institute of Letters

Chosen for BookPage’s Best Fiction of 2023

A nearly abandoned Italian village, the family that stayed, and long-buried secrets from World War II.

On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village—and a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II—centuries of earthquakes, landslides, and the lure of a better life have left it neglected. Only ten residents remain, including the widows Serafino—three eccentric sisters and their steely centenarian mother—who live quietly in their medieval villa. Then their nephew and grandson, Hugh, a historian, returns.

But someone else has arrived before him, laying claim to the cottage where Hugh spent his childhood summers. The unwelcome guest is the captivating and no-nonsense Elisa Tomassi, who asserts that the family patriarch, Aldo Serafino, a resistance fighter whom her own family harbored, gave the cottage to them in gratitude. But like so many threads of history, this revelation unravels a secret—a betrayal, a disappearance, and an unspeakable act of violence—that has impacted Valetto across generations. Who will answer for the crimes of the past?

Praise for Return to Valetto

“[Smith] is a master of his trade who has executed a flawless novel that satisfies on all counts.”
—BookPage (starred review)

“Themes of loss and the burden of history are seasoned with grace and humor.”
—The Christian Science Monitor

“This accomplished novel offers engaging characterization paired with echoes of the past that resound in the present.”
—Booklist

“More fine work from a gifted storyteller: engrossing, well written, and affecting.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“…a riveting journey into one family’s dark history, and a page-turning excavation of history…what Smith has so masterfully captured is how this history lives and breathes in the present.”
—The Australian

“An intriguing saga of wartime promises and trauma…This intelligent family drama will keep readers turning the pages.”
—Publishers Weekly

“I was completely charmed and transported by Return to Valetto, Dominic Smith’s smart, engaging novel about the secrets held within a dying Italian village. This terrific novel, about loss and family and the weight of history, is probably as close as I’ll ever get to buying one of those picturesque Italian villas, and surely a wiser investment.”
—JESS WALTER, author of Beautiful Ruins and The Angel of Rome

“The revelations of Return to Valetto—those of history, and those of the heart—unfold with meticulous grace in Dominic Smith’s stately and majestic novel. With fascists breathing down our necks anew, Return to Valetto could not be more timely, but it is the fine writing and high drama that make it so memorable, and so moving.”
—JOSHUA FERRIS, author of A Calling for Charlie Barnes

“In this propulsive, lush, and haunting novel, Dominic Smith transports us to a near-abandoned town in Umbria and shows how the courage to voice unspeakable secrets of the past can give new life to crumbling bonds of family and community. Filled with enormous hope for the future and rich appreciation for history, Return to Valetto will make you want to race through to the end but also slow down to savor the beautiful writing and sharp insights. I couldn’t put it down.”
—ANGIE KIM, author of Miracle Creek

Packed with lush details and a gripping narrative, Dominic Smith has written a masterful novel about the ways in which the past echoes through generations, how the human heart is both fragile and resilient, and what it takes to stand up for justice no matter how much time has passed. Return to Valetto is a story of love, loss, and the enduring power of hope. Propulsive, heartfelt, and sneakily funny, I was transfixed from page one.”
—LARA PRESCOTT, author of The New York Times bestseller The Secrets We Kept