A Girl During the War: A Novel

Romance, Heartbreak, War and saving the art from the Nazi's. Marina stops to buy anchovies for her father's pasta after work. When she arrives home, she finds her father and another man dead in the basement. Her neighbor tells her that the Nazi's killed her father for harboring a Jewish Artist. Marina's father owned an art gallery in Rome, Italy and Marina was learning to run the gallery as she studied art at the university. The neighbor tells her she must leave at once before the soldier return. She flees to her father's friend in Florence, Italy. Marina is lost without her father although her father's friend and art collector Bernard and his wife take her under their wing and treat her as family. She starts to catalog Bernard's collection while he smuggles art to Switzerland to keep it from the Nazi's. When Marina meets Desi the girl next door and Carlos she finds friends. Carlos draws Marina into his partisan resistance activities as he seeks her art expertise. As they draw closer Marina dares to dream of a life with Carlos after the war. Then Carlos disappears and Marina fears the worst. A job working with Art opens in Argentina and Marina decides to go there and start a new life. What she finds there is enlightening, heartbreaking and life changing. I found the Character of Marina endearing but a bit naive as she had led a sheltered life with her father. Carlos was a charming character that took advantage of Marina for his own selfish purpose. Desi came across as a sweet young lady caught in an impossible situation and was a good match as a friend for Marina. War is a different time, and sometimes people get caught up in the moment Horrible things happened and sometimes good things happened as well. All German people were not Nazi's and monsters, but those that were spread horrible destruction to life and property. I did enjoy reading the book, I loved the ending and I would recommend it. Thanks to Anita Abriel for writing another great book, to Atria books for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.

I enjoy WW2 Historical Fiction. I read at least four books a month that takes place during the time period to learn more. By reading stories that take place in different countries I have learned so much more than I ever did in high school or college. What is nice about reading historical fiction is that I don't expect complete accuracy by I am given direction on what to research, where to find out more. My brain just keeps absorbing more and more. Along the way I have gained favorites. The Italian Girl (A Girl During the War) is at the top of the list. I learned so much about the struggles in Italy during the occupation through the eyes of Marina Tozzi. She lives with and works with her father who owns an art gallery. She returns home to find him and a stranger dead. No longer safe, she flees to Tuscany to stay with a friend of her father's. So much drama within this book. I became addicted. I turned page after page waiting to see what happened next. Partisans, Nazis, jews in hiding made for dreadful but very exciting story. The Nazis didn't leave quietly as the war was ending. Explosions and thefts riddles the countryside. Marina has lost everyone she has loved. When an opportunity comes available in Argentina there is no one keeping her in Italy. Marina has always been about the art. It belonged in museums. It belonged with the actual owners. Helping with the recovery of items taken to Argentina will bring secrets out, breaking Marina all over again. Grab The Italian Girl and prepared to have you mind blown. Thrills and chills will have you hooked on Marina's survival during the war. Desperation will have you flipping pages to see how they survive and if they survive. I just have one question, but if I voice it I will be spilling a situation that will completely blow the reader away.