On a journey of discovery into her parents history of love and fame in war torn Italy, Adela Edgecombe discovered a secret deception within love letters and from family who had been tight-lipped about the scandals for decades.

Bestselling author Jincy Willett describes the story as follows: 'Since every human personality is at root mysterious, all families present us with an abundance of mysteries, the chief of which is often how marriages ever happened in the first place. In her family memoir, Adela Edgecombe tackles that mystery head-on, uncovering a web of circumstances peculiar to place and time. The place is the Province of Salerno, Italy; the time,1944, the depths of World War II. A young American GI meets an impoverished Italian family, grows to care for them, and, as he leaves for the front, promises a nine-year-old child that one day he will return and help them. And does the man, against all odds, keep that promise? Judging from the fairy-tale wedding that took place in Passiano in 1951 and was featured in Life Magazine, it would seem so.

'Edgecombe explores that fairy tale moment, how it came to pass, and what followed after. She digs fearlessly into the mystery of an unhappy marriage that began with such photogenic joy and hope. Read Whispers of Betrayal for a well-researched, surprising, and moving tale which reminds us that the casualties of war are many and varied.'