WAKING RAPHAEL is another worthy addition to the growing genre of history and art history thrillers populating bookshelves these days.

Charlotte, a repressed divorced Brit, has traveled to Urbino, Italy --- the birthplace of artist Raphael --- to restore "La Muta," one of his paintings. While removing previous repairs to the painting, layers of Urbino's history during the war unfold as well. Like the painting of the silent woman, the town's inhabitants and the novel's characters each have their own unique reasons for silence. The silence is, as they say, deafening. With a town's horrible secrets at risk here, the folks of Urbino will stop at nothing to ensure that their age-old mystery remains undiscovered. But this is not to be.

A documentary company is shooting a film about the restoration. The on-camera talent is Donna, a dimwitted but attractive reporter, who cannot read even the simplest of text, but clearly has a sharp eye that something here is amiss. Charlotte and Donna begin to realize that the town holds a dark truth below its surface when the painting is attacked by a mute woman.

There is some heavy metaphor about silence and breaking silence here. Charlotte is incapable of expressing her feelings. The true mute who lives in San Rocco on the periphery of the town says nothing. Donna speaks volumes, about nothing. The count lives a secret life of adultery, hidden from all involved. Each silence and awakening propels the story onward.

With a narrative that was sometimes difficult to follow, WAKING RAPHAEL is redeemed by lush descriptions of Italy, the countryside and the people. The scenes involving food contain sumptuous writing where the reader can taste the tenderness of the prosciutto, the smoothness of the ice cream and gelato, and the delicate cheeses. Magic, religion, art and history weave together to make a compelling story.