The Interpreter by Isabella Pallavicini

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Thank you for joining me on my stop on The Interpreter blog tour presented by Love Book Tours. This historical fiction book is based on the authors father’s experiences around WWII in Sicily. In the back of the book she explains the events that happened which is really nice to put everything into context.

Backjacket description:

Enzo is the child of an Italian family who immigrated to Switzerland. He spends his childhood summers in Sicily, where he immerses himself in the way of life there, learning to love the Italian sense of family. In 1942, he is forced to break off his studies in Germany when he is drafted to Italy to join the war effort. He is deployed as an interpreter in Rome and on the island of Lampedusa. His cousins are caught up in the war too, working as a fighter pilot, a priest in the Vatican who helps refugees, and a partisan. Another of them acts as an intermediary between the mafia and the American secret service, a collaboration that is seldom mentioned in accounts of this period of history. Enzo witnesses the invasion of Sicily by the American and British military and, as the war is drawing to a close, he decides to take matters into his own hands and make his way home. 

Review:

There are many books that are historical fiction set in WWII Europe but not many are set in Italy. Italy joined/was taken over by Germany and many Italians did not understand why they were in this war. Enzo lives in Switzerland but is drafted to the Italian military because of his citizenship. He does not want to leave his studies but does so to become an interpreter between Italy and Germany. His story is very interesting and shows the Italian view of the war. I loved that the author wrote the book based on her fathers experiences. It is part memoriar, part historical fiction. The book also highlighted the way people lived with ration cards, how illnesses that would not be a big deal in todays world, had a greater impact 70 years ago. I love historical fiction so this was a great book for me.

I hope you will enjoy the book as much as I did. Please check out the other stops on the blog tour to hear more about the book.

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