Dimensions
129 x 197 x 26mm
Her name was Kate Fenn, until she married Gabriele D'Alessandria in 1936 and went to live in Tuscany, where most people called her Caterina. It was the time of jack-booted Black shirts and nationalist fervour, yet no one seemed to hold her Englishness against her. Just as Gabriele seemed, despite his ardent socialism, to accept his sister's marriage to a rising star in the Fascist party. Only a few in their circle, including Gabriele's disillusioned father, were prepared to face up to what was festering beneath the country's civilised surface.
This is the story of a young Englishwoman who finds herself inside Nazi-Fascist Europe when Italy declares war against Britain, living out the Second World War with a brother and brother-in-law in opposing armies, a family riven by politics and a small daughter to protect. Vividly recreating the atmosphere of the time, William Riviere's enthralling new novel is about surviving under a dictatorship and retaining inner freedom, about history and stories, living a lie and telling the truth, keeping faith and betrayal.