Is there such a thing as too many books? My to-read list seems to get longer every single day, not that I am complaining to much. I am once again taking part in a book tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. The book on tour is Under the Light of the Italian Moon by Jennifer Anton and it is brilliant!!
Fonzaso Italy, between two wars
Nina Argenta doesn’t want the traditional life of a rural Italian woman. The daughter of a strong-willed midwife, she is determined to define her own destiny. But when her brother emigrates to America, she promises her mother to never leave.
When childhood friend Pietro Pante briefly returns to their mountain town, passion between them ignites while Mussolini forces political tensions to rise. Just as their romance deepens, Pietro must leave again for work in the coal mines of America. Nina is torn between joining him and her commitment to Italy and her mother.
As Mussolini’s fascists throw the country into chaos and Hitler’s Nazis terrorise their town, each day becomes a struggle to survive greater atrocities. A future with Pietro seems impossible when they lose contact and Nina’s dreams of a life together are threatened by Nazi occupation and an enemy she must face alone…
A gripping historical fiction novel, based on a true story and heartbreaking real events.
Spanning over two decades, Under the Light of the Italian Moon is an epic, emotional and triumphant tale of one woman’s incredible resilience during the rise of fascism and Italy’s collapse into WWII.
If you’ve read practically any of my reviews before, you will know that I tend to agree to read books because of the covers. I know, I know, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. But, come on, look at the cover – can you blame me?!
While I have bragged before about my secondary school level knowledge of WWII history, I never studied Italian history. This means that I actually had no idea about what would happen in this book. I was going in blind – not that I minded that too much.
Let’s talk a little about the story. Nina is ten years old when this book starts, and her brother is leaving for America. Her mother takes this difficultly, as is expected, and Nina makes her mother a promise – that she would never leave. Now, as a parent, I know never to take the promises of children as truth. The amount of times I have heard promises that toys will be put away in a minute, or that the reason there is one less cookie all of a sudden is definitely not because my child took one is uncountable. When parents expect their children to keep their childhood promises is where problems occur. For example, when Nina falls in love with a childhood friend who emigrated to America, her mother still expects her to stay in Italy, to stay with her. See the issue?
I don’t know how I would fare if my husband lived so far away from me and if our only form of communication was by written letter. With my bad handwriting and his wonderful ability to forget that he needed to text back, we would never actually keep in touch properly. Nina and Pietro manage it a lot better than we would. The one thing I definitely couldn’t do is be away from my husband throughout an entire pregnancy and for him to not meet the child for ages. Nina is a very strong woman, and Pietro’s absence in her life, despite her so desperately wanting him to return, or for her to join him, just further proves how independent she is, and how capable.
As I read, I learned more about Italy in the build-up to WWII. I knew, of course, who Mussolini was, but I never knew about the more intricate details. For example, he gave out rewards for big families as an incentive for people to have more children. This meant that a lot of women who had finished with their families were getting pregnant again, and many women who knew that it was dangerous for them to be pregnant couldn’t avoid it. There were also times when there were soldiers everywhere, forcing their ways into homes and demanding food, or stealing eggs from gardens. I felt Nina’s fear at these times, fear for her family as these soldiers forced her to cook for them, and sat hoping that all the soldiers wanted was a home-cooked meal.
I have always wanted to go to Italy, and this book transported me there without me needing to update my passport, pack, or deal with airports. Also, it was a much cheaper option. I made my husband make me what I would call an "Italian meal" while I was in the midst of reading this book, which ramped up the feeling of being in Italy from my sofa. Yes, I am fully aware that frozen pizza and cheesy pasta does not really count as an Italian meal, but it was the closest I could get him to do on such short notice and it is also something that I know for sure my child will eat. No matter how unauthentic it was, it was pretty tasty.
So to conclude, a great book, deserving of such a fabulous cover!
I received my copy from The Coffee Pot Book Club, but you can grab yours at your favourite book shop, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, Bookshop.org (U.S. Only) - sorry, rest of the world. And not forgetting, I am Books Boston - who I have never heard of but you can get free shipping on orders over $50. Bargain!!
Jennifer Anton
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I am so glad you enjoyed Under The Light Of The Italian Moon.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting today's blog tour stop.