‘The Italian Girls’ by Debbie Rix is a historical fiction novel that focuses upon Italy in the second world war. I have read a few stories based in Italy over the past few weeks. As I have stated in previous reviews Italy is not a country that I took notice of from the War, but I do wonder why? It wasn’t just Hilter there was Mussolini side by side with him. He wasn’t exactly a nice person either.
This story tells us of two women, Livia and Isabella. Livia is a student and Isabella is a famous actress. They both choose to fight Nazism and the oppression it causes when their lives are turned on their heads by the second world war. This is the first time I have read anything by Debbie Rix and I found that this book really rang true, maybe due to the fact Debbie has used true stories upon which her novel is based.
The two women are almost like chalk and cheese, but I liked them both for their different qualities throughout the story. Their connection is through one man, Vicenzo and as the story unfolds things begin to change.
I was struck by both women’s bravery and determination in attempting to diminish the Fascist hold of Mussolini and the German occupation. They walk a fine line and I found I was on the edge of my seat at times.
This fine line the resistance and every person who helped during this time did mean that sometimes the long term goal created more hardship in the short term. A time when people did as they needed when faced with the worst atrocities they could imagine.
Another reflective book that had me considering many cause and effects of that time in history. Again I travelled to Italy to be with Livia and Isabella in my imagination and spent a fair few hours in Italy, surrounded by Nazis and Fascists of the time.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the copy of the book for my review today.
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