THE BISHOP'S VILLA

Michael Brusasco delivers fact and fiction in this novel based on true events. In 1943, in a remote Tuscan village, the Fascist authorities order that all Jews be rounded up and imprisoned in the Bishop's villa to await relocation. As events unfold, Brusasco turns René, an unassuming village cobbler who is secretly in love with Anna, a widowed seamstress, into a man with a purpose. When Anna disappears into the Resistance, René quietly undermines the Fascists by sabotaging the soldiers' boots with rusty nails. Brusasco captures the people's fear of the Nazis and resentment toward the seemingly pampered Jews in the villa while also revealing the underground collaboration between the Fascists and the Catholic Church. Brusasco weaves an intriguing story highlighting René's and Anna's anti-Fascist schemes. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2024]