The harrowing circumstances faced by Italians during World War II are powerfully rendered as Bristow surveys a fraught and fascinating time with an eye for telling detail. Spirited Elena is devoted to the arts and willing to risk her life—and the lives of those she loves—to save them from the Germans. “If those beautiful paintings and sculptures and tapestries… are gone, we’ll have lost part of our humanity,” she beseeches Luca to convince him to join her cause. That cause involves placing herself in grave danger, as she assists Pasquale Rotondi (a real-life figure) in secreting famous works of art to the Vatican for safekeeping. Luca, who quickly falls for Elena, vows to help her, a decision that will have disastrous consequences for them both.

The story contains the customary German adversaries, but Bristow endows them with a chilling realism that brings the characters’ experiences to life—whether that’s the brutal murder of a young boy trying to help the partisans, or the understandable revenge Luca’s brother eventually takes on a cruel German major. The crux of this touching novel is the characters’ rousing willingness to sacrifice it all—after all, “what [is] the point of simply surviving if you ended up losing what matter[s]?”

Takeaway: Powerful novel of Italy’s Resistance during the Second World War.

Comparable Titles: Jennifer Anton’s Under the Light of the Italian Moon, Laura Morelli’s The Last Masterpiece.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A