Our darkest night A novel of Italy and the Second World War

Jennifer Robson, 1970-

eAudio - 2021

To survive the Holocaust, a young Jewish woman must pose as a Christian farmer's wife in this unforgettable novel from USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Robson-a story of terror, hope, love, and sacrifice, inspired by true events, that vividly evokes the most perilous days of World War II. It is the autumn of 1943, and life is becoming increasingly perilous for Italian Jews like the Mazin family. With Nazi Germany now occupying most of her beloved homeland, and the threat of imprisonment and deportation growing ever more certain, Antonina Mazin has but one hope to survive-to leave Venice and her beloved parents and hide in the countryside with a man she has only just met. Nico Gerardi was studying for the priesthood until circums...tances forced him to leave the seminary to run his family's farm. A moral and just man, he could not stand by when the fascists and Nazis began taking innocent lives. Rather than risk a perilous escape across the mountains, Nina will pose as his new bride. And to keep her safe and protect secrets of his own, Nico and Nina must convince prying eyes they are happily married and in love. But farm life is not easy for a cultured city girl who dreams of becoming a doctor like her father, and Nico's provincial neighbors are wary of this soft and educated woman they do not know. Even worse, their distrust is shared by a local Nazi official with a vendetta against Nico. The more he learns of Nina, the more his suspicions grow-and with them his determination to exact revenge. As Nina and Nico come to know each other, their feelings deepen, transforming their relationship into much more than a charade. Yet both fear that every passing day brings them closer to being torn apart . . .

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Subjects
Published
[United States] : HarperAudio 2021.
Language
English
Corporate Author
hoopla digital
Main Author
Jennifer Robson, 1970- (author)
Corporate Author
hoopla digital (-)
Other Authors
Marisa Calin (narrator)
Edition
Unabridged
Online Access
Instantly available on hoopla.
Cover image
Physical Description
1 online resource (1 audio file (9hr., 56 min.)) : digital
Format
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
ISBN
9780063065710
Access
AVAILABLE FOR USE ONLY BY IOWA CITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, HILLS, AND LONE TREE (IA).
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Though it is illegal for Jews to practice medicine, Antonina Mazin accompanies her aging father in the ghetto of Venice. But as Venice grows more dangerous, Dr. Mazin and his friend, Father Bernardi, arrange for Antonina to escape with a former seminary student, Nico Gerardi, by posing as his wife. She goes reluctantly, becoming Nina, a nursing student from Padua, on the long journey to Nico's hometown. His family was expecting him to work the farm; they were not expecting him to bring a wife. Nina has to adjust to farm life, and to keeping secrets from a family she grows to love. Eventually, the maniacal local SS officer uncovers the truth, which leads Nina on a wrenching journey to Birkenau and Terezin. Robson (The Gown, 2018) does not shy away from the horrors of the Holocaust but ends the story with an improbable miracle that will leave readers reaching for tissues. This homage to love, finding a family, and the triumph of good people over Nazis is a good choice for book groups looking for a new take on WWll fiction.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Robson (The Gown) shines with this stellar WWII story. In 1942 Venice, Antonina Mazin, a young Jewish woman, aspires to be a doctor like her father, despite crackdowns by Mussolini's government on the rights of Jews. As the political winds turn more ominous, Antonina's father arranges for her to go into hiding in a remote village, masquerading as Nina, the Catholic wife of local farmer and former seminary student Niccolò Gerardi. While their relationship at first is only for show, the two fall in love while working for the Resistance. But when a Nazi officer discovers Nina's true identity, their lives are placed in jeopardy. The brutal reality and atrocities of war are on full view with devastating clarity. Expert characterizations and perfect pacing are rounded out by lyrical prose ("She lay on her side, stricken, watching the last of the sun fade to nothing, and she waited for the stars to bloom"). This will break readers' hearts. (Jan.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

In 1943, with Germans soldiers occupying much of Italy, Italian Jewish Antonina Mazin must flee Venice. But instead of risking a dangerous mountain crossing, she agrees to pose as the wife of Nico Gerardi, who cut short his seminary studies to return home to run the family farm. Unfortunately, their arrangement does not entirely persuade either the neighbors or the local Nazi official. From the author of the internationally best-selling The Gown; with a 100,000-copy paperback and 30,000-copy hardcover first printing.

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