Notes from the library
In Love and War by Alex Preston![]() I've finally got around to reading this book after first falling for it when it was the BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime. Set in Florence in the late 1930s, it tells the story of Esmond Lowndes, a confused young idealist, the expat community he encounters and the emergence of the Florentine resistance.
Click here for the full review. Birds of Passage by Joe Giordano![]() Birds of Passage is an Italian immigrant coming of age story by Joe Giordano. It tells the story of Leonardo Robustelli, the short-tempered but good hearted son of a tenant farmer from Naples; Carlo Mazzi, the privileged son of powerful local don; and Azzura Medina, a beautiful young Italian-American who waits tables at the family restaurant in the heart of New York’s Neapolitan community.
Click here for the full review. Fascist Voices by Christopher Duggan![]() Using contemporary letters and diaries, Fascist Voices, An Intimate History of Mussolini's Italy by Christopher Duggan is a detailed and troubling account of a dark period of Italian history.
Click here for the full review. |
Orkney's Italian Chapel by Philip Paris![]() The remarkable true story behind the construction of an iconic chapel on a remote Scottish island by Italian Prisoner's of War. The Chapel they created became a stunning symbol of hope and peace in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Click here for the full review. The Good Italian by Stephen Burke![]() Currently reading The Good Italian by Stephen Burke.
"A story of love, and war, and of finding hope in the midst of chaos." Full review coming soon. |