Daughters Of Naples

The year is 1940 & the three Cozzolino sisters, Leta, Marcella & Bianca live together in their quaint home in Naples during the tyrannical reign of Benito Mussolini. Leta runs her mother-in-law’s Violetta De Rosa’s dress shop while her husband Anto is at war. Marcella is an apprentice to a midwife who has a boyfriend, Giovanni, who’s part of the fascist party. Bianca, the youngest sister, works at the library where her boss hides books banned by the government. Bianca is tired of seeing her country under Mussolini’s rule and the war in general that she joins the partigiani, the Italian resistance. This puts the sisters at odds, but when Naples is bombed and Leta’s old flame comes back into her life, they question how far they are willing to go for each other and their country especially with Nazism taking over the country after Mussolini’s downfall….

 Research, Story & Pacing

While most of the historical fiction books that take place in World War II Italy don’t do a great job, Daughters Of Naples, is one of the few gems that are great. The descriptions are great and Diana Giovinazzo did an excellent job of researching and making the story come to life. I also like the fact that the story is from the point of view of 3 sisters. I will say out of all the sisters, I enjoyed reading Bianca’s parts the best. It took some time for me to warm up to Leta & Marcella, and I didn’t agree with all the choices Marcella made.  I like the fact that Bianca has a love of books and she wants to help Cesare, the librarian, protect the banned books. Maybe it meant to be, since my name is Bianca and I also enjoy books . The pacing was sometimes off but for the most part, I liked it. Daughters Of Naples will be available tomorrow on July 21^st!