The Venetian Daughter (Daughters of Italy)
1943 Tuscany, Italy. Forty-three-year-old contessa Evelina is running her Villa Rosa farm estate singlehandedly. Her husband has died, and her two grown-up sons have left to fight for Hitler. Evelina is devastated upon receiving a telegram from her best friend Talia, a Jewish schoolteacher, saying, “I never left Venice. Please, help me. T.” Evelina’s parents reside in Venice; she rushes there and, upon reaching Talia’s house in the Jewish quarter, finds the house boarded with a Star of David painted on it, and a little boy hiding inside. Knowing that the Nazis are capturing Jews, Evelina conceals the boy in her parents’ palazzo. She also locates Talia concealed in a church. With the Germans tracking them, Evelina wishes to unite Talia with the boy and find a way out of Venice to safety.
This is prolific writer Ella Carey’s second novel in her Daughters of Italy series, but it is virtually a standalone. Set mainly in Venice, the story transports us to that fabled city as we travel alongside the characters on gondolas in the myriads of canals and visit ancient red brick homes, marble palazzos, and churches, and attend balls. Pre-WWII life in the Jewish quarter is vividly shown. The period in Italy during the occupation by Nazis is well narrated. It was interesting to note how the mindset of some Italians, such as Evelina’s parents, changed from being initially supportive of Mussolini, siding with the Germans, to being against him after observing the atrocities inflicted on Jewish Italian citizens. Although the plot includes the usual coincidences, there are some irregularities, such as the reappearance of a handwritten note that had been burned some scenes ago. The novel admirably displays how fast friendships can lead to acts of courage, regardless of the dangers to self and family. An informative and entertaining book.
