Searching

A Letter From Italy by Rose Alexander is a marvellous dual timeline novel that totally consumed me.

The action is set during World War II in both Yorkshire and Italy, and also on the south coast in 1972. Each chapter alternates with the time periods as the reader connects the dots.

A shock surprise, following her mother’s death, totally rocks a young woman’s world. All she thought she knew about herself and her family is shaken to the core as the foundations of her life wobble. She seeks answers, as she searches for her identity. The search takes her first to London, and then to Italy.

During World War II we start off in Yorkshire as we follow a young telephonist until her papers, at aged twenty, see her sign up and posted to Italy.

Also, in Yorkshire we meet an Italian POW based at Eden camp. The locals realise that the young Italian men are no different from themselves, they just want to see the end of the war. Once Italy joins the Allies, the young man joins the partisans in Italy.