The Italian Ballerina

 

The Italian Ballerina

Kristy Cambron

Publication date: July 12, 2022 by Thomas Nelson

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 👢👢👢👢

Summary: Rome, 1943 . With the fall of Italy's Fascist government and the Nazi regime occupying the streets of Rome, British ballerina Julia Bradbury is stranded and forced to take refuge at a hospital on Tiber Island. But when she learns of a deadly sickness that is sweeping through the quarantine wards—a fake disease known only as Syndrome K—she is drawn into one of the greatest cons in history. Alongside hospital staff, friars of the adjoining church, and two Allied medics, Julia risks everything to rescue Italian Jews from the deadly clutches of the Holocaust. But when one little girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina arrives at their door, Julia and the others are determined to reunite the young dancer with her family—if only she would reveal one crucial secret: her name.

Present Day . With the recent loss of her grandfather—a beloved small-town doctor and WWII veteran—Delaney Coleman returns home to help her aging parents, even as she struggles to pick up the pieces of her own life. When a mysterious Italian woman claims she owns one of the family's precious heirlooms, Delaney is compelled to uncover what's true of her grandfather's hidden past. Together with the woman's skeptical but charming grandson, Delaney learns of a Roman hospital that saved hundreds of Jewish people during the war. Soon, everything Delaney thought she knew about her grandfather comes into question as she wrestles with the possibility that the man she'd revered all her life had unknown ties to Rome and may have taken noble secrets to his grave.

Based on true accounts of the invented Syndrome K sickness, The Italian Ballerina journeys from the Allied storming of the beaches at Salerno to the London ballet stage and the war-torn streets of WWII Rome, exploring the sometimes heart-wrenching choices we must make to find faith and forgiveness, and how saving just one life can impact countless others.

My thoughts: What can love and art do for the soul? I believe that is the core of what this story is all about. In the past storyline the reader is given multiple characters to follow, Julia and Court. Each struggles through personal loss which in turn molds their character. Both Julia and Court have the ability to love deeply and don't hesitate to make sacrifices for others. In the midst of the German occupation in Italy, one little girl with her red suitcase gives them a reminder of why their actions are worth it. 

The modern day timeline gives the reader the story of Delaney and Matt. A forgotten red suitcase in Delaney's grandfather's possessions triggers the unravelling of an unknown story, one that neither Delaney or Matt could ever dream.  

Cambron created a beautifully heart wrenching story that brilliantly describes the monumental efforts taken to thwart the Germans from taking more Jews. Complex characters, a scam of epic proportions, romance, and one little girl make this book a wonderfully satisfying read. 

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.