The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Trussoni, Danielle. The Ancestor. William Morrow, April 7, 2020. Kindle.

In the Gothic thriller The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni, science and superstition clash regarding sightings of a strange creature with large feet, abnormally pale skin, and white hair. The people who lived in the village of Nevenero believed the creature was a monster who stole children. Scientific figures celebrated the creature as one of the links between Neanderthals and modern Homo Sapiens. Christians believed the creature was a devil, born as a punishment for sins. Alberta “Bert” Monte learned that these creatures were her ancestors.

When Bert received a letter from Italy informing her that she was the last living heir to the Montebianco estate she believed at first the news might turn her life around. Grieved because she had been unable to carry a child to term, Bert had asked her husband, Luca, to move out. When Bert received a strange letter written in Italian and addressed to Alberta Isabelle Eleanor Vittoria Montebianco, she went to Luca for advice. Luca advised her to talk to his grandmother “Nonna” Sophia who had immigrated from a village called Nevenero along with Bert’s grandparents.

Nonna Sophia explained that Bert’s grandfather, Giovanni, was actually a member of the royal Montebianco family who lived in the castle above Nevenero. Sophia said that Giovanni immigrated to America and shortened his name because he was running away from his family. She said Giovanni would be horrified that the family had found his granddaughter. She warned Bert not to respond to the Montebianco family or have anything to do with them. Nonna also told Bert about a strange monster that she called the Beast of Nevenero. She said this beast stole children from the village. The last child stolen was her brother, Gregor. The villagers decided to abandon their homes and move to America at that point. Bert was shocked by Nonna’s revelation that Giovanni had killed himself.

When Bert paid a visit to the town’s Vital Records Office, she discovered that her grandfather really had died of suicide. She also learned that she was not the only member of her family plagued by miscarriages and stillbirths. There were death records for two stillborn babies with Bert’s father and mother listed as the parents. Her grandparents were listed as parents on birth certificates for eight other stillborn babies. Bert was angry because her mother had never told her there was a history of miscarriage in the family.

Bert was accosted by a lawyer, Enzo Roberts, when she arrived home. Enzo wanted to explain her inheritance and answer questions, but Bert insisted that Luca be present. Enzo talked Luca and Bert into flying to Italy that night where they would meet with lawyers. Luca and Bert were on the cusp of reconciliation after spending the night in a boutique hotel and eating a fancy dinner, but Luca offended Bert when he told her that her family had been intentionally shunned by the other from Nevenero. Bert asked to be left alone for a while. Luca went back to the hotel and checked out. Meanwhile, Bert went to a bookstore, hoping to find information about Nevenero. The only book that the store owner could find contained a picture of the Beast of Nevenero. The image was so scary to Bert that she ran away.

The following day, Bert had to face the lawyers alone since Luca had left. They told her that she needed to spend a week at Montebianco Castle to learn about the estate from her great-aunt Dolores. Dolores had been married to Giovanni’s twin brother, Guillaume. Bert had never known that her grandfather had a twin. Dolores did not qualify as a legal heir because she was related to the Montebianco family only by marriage. Bert agreed to be flown to the castle because Dolores was too old and sick to leave for a meeting.

At the castle, Dolores and her secretary, Basil Harwell, undertook teaching Bert about the family. Dolores showed her the portrait gallery of her ancestors, focusing on Vittoria, known as Vita, the only woman to have her portrait hung there. Vita was the mother of Giovanni and Guillaume. Although she appeared as a normal human in the portrait, Dolores said that portrait was a ruse. She described Vita as being terribly deformed physically. Bert later learned that Vita displayed the characteristics of the Icemen, a tribe of prehistoric people identified also as the Beasts of Nevenero. Dolores hated Vita because Vita was different and held over Dolores’ husband

The night that Dolores took Bert to meet Vita, Dolores intended to kill Vita by putting poison in her wine. Instead, it was Dolores who died. Bert realized that Greta, the housekeeper, had seen what Dolores had done and switched the glasses. Bert was horrified that Greta and Vita did nothing to help Dolores and ran away, hoping to find someone who could get her a helicopter and take her back to safety.

Sal came after Bert. He shot her in the leg when she tried to run away. Vita visited Bert as she was recuperating from her gunshot wound. The bullet had been removed by Bernadette, the cook, who had little surgical knowledge. Although the wound was infected, Bert was being given only an herbal pain medicine that was addictive. Vita brought Bert antibiotics and modern pain medication.

One day Sal took Bert to meet Vita on the lawn of the castle. Vita was carrying a bag of medical supplies that she gave to two men who appeared from the woods. Vita explained to Bert that those men, Icemen, were their ancestors. She shared with Bert a book of notes compiled by Leopold Montebianco. Leopold had lived with the Icemen for two years and had encouraged them to breed outside their tribe to strengthen their chances of survival. Leopold returned to the castle with Vittorio, Vita’s grandfather, a child who had been born to one of the women in the tribe. It was because of that cross-breeding that Vita had been born the way she was.

Weeks later when the Icemen needed more supplies, Bert offered to make the trip to their village. Vita asked her to look for any members of the tribe who might be descendants of Leopold. While there, Bert met Ciba, a woman with brown eyes. Because the Icemen all had blue eyes, Bert knew that the brown eyes meant Ciba had descended from Leopold. Ciba was pregnant, but died in childbirth. Bert cared for the baby, whom she named Isabelle because she and Ciba were friends.

Bert left the village and took Isabelle with her when she learned that the Icemen were kidnapping children from area ski resorts. They intended to use these children as breeding stock, but the human children were not hearty enough to survive in the Iceman village. Back at the castle, Aki, who was an Iceman and Isabelle’s father, came for the baby. Bert made him agree to let her raise Isabelle in exchange for her getting the Icemen the supplies they needed to survive. She also insisted that they stop kidnapping children.