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Yes, this is a World War II novel. I read a lot of books besides WWII books but somehow those must really make an impact on me because I am frequently posting about them here (although, looking back, I've only posted about one other WWII novel in the past year so maybe I don't write about as many as I thought!)
Jennifer Robson is an author I've been reading for awhile. She wrote 3 other WWII novels in the past ~5 years, all of which I read and liked. Then she wrote The Gown which I saw all over the place (and also read). Now she's back to World War II but exploring some possible family history which gives this a different elements (it slightly reminded me of We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter in that respect).
Most readers are probably familiar with the plethora of World War II books that have been published in the past decade. There are A LOT and I feel like I've read nearly a dozen of them a year for the last 5 years at least. It is a time period that has been very well covered in literature. I am by no means an expert on the war but after having read so many books about it I feel like I have a decent knowledge. I know much more now than I ever learned in school!
However, I am continually surprised at the new aspects and angles of the war that these novelists keep sharing. It seems every one I pick up is covering some part of the war that I had never read or even really considered before. I obviously don't know as much about the war as I thought I did.
Both of my Grandpas served in World War II and while I never met one of them, it was a frequent conversation topic with the other in the latter years of his life. This coincided with when I was reading more books about the war and then I could ask my Grandpa about some of the things I read (I specifically remember asking him about what I learned in When Books Went to War and thinking of him a lot when I finally read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn years later, even though he never gave any indication that he read that book.). I appreciate how much I've learned from all these novels and how much more I empathize with many different, hard, circumstances that people had all over the world as a result of this war. People were tough and brave and did the world a lot of good by fighting that war, on it's numerous fronts.
Our Darkest Night is set in Italy, maybe not a place I've read a World War II book yet (although, maybe I have, I've read a lot). Antonia is Jewish and living with her parents in Venice. Her father is a doctor and she dreams of following in his footsteps, already working with him. Then the time comes when it is no longer safe to be Jewish in Venice and her father concocts a plan with a priest he is friendly with. Antonia is going to take a different name and pretend to be married to a Catholic Italian farmer who lives in the country. This will keep her hidden during the rest of the war.
Antonia is told of this plan and does. not. like. it. She doesn't want to leave her parents. She doesn't want to live with this man and his family, none of whom she has ever met. But she knows her father's priest friend and trusts him as well. And knows this is her best chance for making it out of the war alive. So she goes.
Nico had been studying to be a priest but then his family needed him after an older brother was killed in the war so he left the seminary and came home. He is also friends with this priest and is willing to help the priest help keep this stranger safe. He goes to pick her up and she comes to live on his family farm. His family doesn't know they are virtual strangers and aren't actually married. There is a sister who is rather mad at Nico for keeping a whole romance from her. If she only knew how much they are really keeping from her.
Of course, no place can be completely safe and life isn't all easy living in the Italian countryside. For starters, they are running a farm which is a lot of manual labor, a lot more than Antonia has ever experienced in her life. There are younger siblings to look out for and work from sun-up to sundown. Nico also leaves for days at a time on mysterious errands that he won't even tell Antonia about. She is safer but not completely safe.
I devoured this story, wanting to know if the whole extended family would make it alive through the war, if this somewhat crazy plan would work. I liked seeing Catholicism featured favorably and the Catholics doing their part to help their Jewish country people. I liked learning about a whole other aspect of the war, especially since I didn't know much (or anything) about how regular Italians got through the war. And I was rooting for Antonia and Nico to survive (and fall in real love, not just pretend).
Most readers aren't seeking out more World War II books, I know they are all over the place. BUT, I really enjoyed this one despite the hard topics and painful times and all the moments I didn't know if they would survive. People can get through a lot. We are resilient even when we'd rather not have to be.
Let me know if you read it and what you think!
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