Our Darkest Night is Robson’s sixth book and I have read all of them but this one I couldn’t put down. The story takes place in Italy during the German occupation, a dark time which brought out the best and worst of mankind. Antonina Mazin is a young Jewish woman who lives with her father in Venice, her mother in the equivalent of a nursing home. When Jewish roundups seem imminent, Antonina’s father sends her away with a friend of a friend, Niccolo Gerardi.
Antonina Mazin becomes Nina Marzoli
and goes to live with Nico on his families’ farm, posing as his Christian wife.
Nina was training with her father to be a doctor and has no knowledge of the
work required to run a farm. Guided by the last words of her father, “Eat the
food they give you. Do the work that is expected of you. Never complain.” Nina
slowly adapts to life on the farm.
Nico’s neighbors are leery of the
girl Nico suddenly married and their distrust is shared by the local Nazi
official who has a vendetta against Nico. Karl Zwerger becomes obsessed with
Nina and learning everything about her in his quest for revenge. As the charade
becomes a reality, can Nina and Nico survive until the end of the war?
Jennifer Robson has a doctorate
in British history from Oxford and relies upon conventional research sources as
well as personal recollections for her books. She doesn’t shy away from the horrors
of the time. Robson’s writing style brings the characters and historic events
to life.
4.18 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on
Amazon
This book is not available at
EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area
library.
No comments:
Post a Comment