Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: Echoes of War

Reviewed in Australia on 11 October 2021

I love Tanias stories telling about the lives of her family all interwoven with history . It gives an insight into the lives of others who lived through the terrible times of WW2 , the strong family ties they had to their homelands and the difficulties in moving to far away strange lands , it must have been incredibly hard for so many people . It has given me even more reason to have huge respect for the migrants who came to Australia and started new lives .

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A story based around the Royal Italian Army and life in Italy during WW II.

Reviewed in Australia on 30 September 2021

Giulia Tallariti lives on a farm near the remote village of Bruzzano in Calabria in Italy, with her parents Andrea and Gabriella and siblings Vincenzo, Teresa, Poala and Antonio. Their farm supports the entire family, they grow crops and vegetables, have a flock of sheep and make cheese. Her father’s a rather stubborn and old fashioned Italian man, he can’t understand why Giulia wants to be a healer like her Nonna Mariana, at her age, she should be getting married and having babies. She’s caught between wanting to make her own way in life, her duty to her family and she seizes her only chance.

Giulia's given the opportunity to study at a monastery, with the famous herbalist Fra Fortunato, here she learns about growing herbs, drying them, and their healing properties. She meets sister Agata a nun who shares her interest in herbs, medicine and they become friends. Her older brother Vincenzo and his two friends Angelo and Stefano have been conscripted into the Royal Italian Army, they have been fighting in Abyssinia and Albania. They return home hungry, thin, tired, and dirty and the young men have a haunted look about them.

This is just the beginning, Italy's ruled by a fascist government and Mussolini, even veteran of the First World War Andrea is called up, the Tallariti women are left to run the farm, harvest the crops and Poala is in her element. Giulia and her Nonna are busy running their clinic, as the Second World War year’s drag and their traditional herbal medicine is a godsend. For the Tallariti family there are times of joy when new babies are born and when widowed Giulia marries Stefano, terrible sadness when a loved one’s are killed and every family in Bruzzano dreads getting a telegram.

Echoes of War story is based around the author Tania Blanchard’s grandfather being a member of the Royal Italian Army, and fighting in Abyssinia and Albania. Her family’s historical ties to Italy, her Nonna’s interest in herbal medicine and moving to Australia after the Second World War. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, I have read and enjoyed all of Tania Blanchard’s books and her newest edition Echoes of War is absolutely brilliant and five stars from me.

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What a Fabulous Story

Reviewed in Australia on 2 October 2021

This is a fabulous story that had me hooked from the beginning. Tania Blanchard has that amazing ability in bringing the characters to life, and painting a very vivid picture of what life was like for Giulia and her family. I spent many enjoyable hours reading this wonderful book.
Giulia Tallarti dreamed of a much different life than her father had planned for her. Giulia had no desire to end up married with children in the village they lived in, she wanted to get out and live a little. Her father had no idea that she had been learning to become a Herbalist, like Nonna Mariana, who was a folk healer. Giulia jumped at the chance to get away from her father and study at the monastery. While Giulia is missing home, her mind is also preoccupied with the war, and if her loved ones will make it home safely.
The Author has done a great job in creating this special book, and I would certainly recommend it. 5/5 Star Rating.

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Heartfelt storytelling

Reviewed in Australia on 29 September 2021

This book was outside my usual reading genre but I’m so glad I found it.

It’s a story about a young woman with dreams that definitely don’t fit society’s mould. Set in Italy at the beginning of WWII it tells the story of Guilia’s quest to be a healer.

The storytelling is beautiful and also kind of heartbreaking. It’s obviously set during a very difficult time in Italy’s history. It explores the Italian culture of family, connection to the land sense of obligation. It’s a great read.

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‘I followed the nun in a haze of exhaustion.’

Reviewed in Australia on 30 September 2021

Calabria, Italy, 1936. Guilia Tallariti lives with her family (parents and four siblings) in a remote farming village. She dreams of being a healer, like her grandmother, but her father is determined to see each of his three daughters married. Guilia spends some time at a monastery where, unknown to her father, she learns some of the skills of healing with a famous herbalist. But after she returns to the village, she is married at seventeen and then widowed two years later.

Beyond Calabria, Mussolini and his National Fascist Party are in power in Italy and the world is edging towards World War II. Calabria is no longer safe from the fascist agenda of northern Italy and Guilia’s family will be torn apart. Guilia remarries: her husband, father and brother are called up to serve in the armed forces. By now, Guilia is a trusted healer: even her father has accepted her skills.

And after the war, many of those who have survived can no longer make a living on their farms. Many will emigrate.

Ms Blanchard has drawn on her grandfather’s life in writing this novel: deftly drawing history into fiction and enabling the reader to experience the customs of Calabria and the challenges faced. I enjoyed this novel and learned more about the impact of Mussolini and of World War II in this part of Italy. The characters and story held my attention from beginning to end.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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Rina P

Recognising the value of taking joy wherever we could

Reviewed in Australia on 30 November 2021

This was a 3.5-star read for me.

This was an epic story about how war affected families and relationships - I think the book was very appropriately titled. It was a story about the echoes of war(s), indeed.

I liked the overall concept of the story, and I really appreciated that the Author incorporated elements from her own heritage and stories from her own grandparents. Giulia’s strong relationship with her family was clearly the core of the story, and her love for natural medicines showed her ‘modern’ side of wanting to be an independent woman.

While some of the sub-plots were used repetitively, such as Giulia’s desire to further her medicine study and thus instigating arguments with her father, and the romance (the courting part) could’ve been improved, it was an enjoyable read overall.

There was this particular quote that I liked very much from the book:
“After everything I’d been through, I recognised the value of taking joy wherever we could.”
I think it is very important indeed to always recognise the value of taking joy wherever we can!

(Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for a free copy in exchange for an honest review)

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A gripping story of resilience in the face of adversity

Reviewed in Australia on 30 October 2021

Inspired by her own family history, Tania Blanchard’s novels always give readers a picture of life from the perspective of the “other side”. Echoes of War is set mainly in Calabria in the toe of mainland Italy in the years leading up to and during World War Two. This book is exceptionally well researched and gives a clear picture of just how challenging life was for the Calabrian agricultural community, who suffered from government corruption, demands that they meet increasingly challenging quotas of product for the government, droughts, earthquakes and more. It is clear that these were exceptionally resilient people. Giulia, a gifted healer, is the central character and through her eyes we see this remarkable story unfold. battling against tradition, poverty, corruption and war, Giulia grows from the petulant teenage girl she is at the beginning of the book to a woman of great resilience and strendthby the end. Her story is gripping and definitely worth reading.

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Sammysreads

Beautiful, heartbreaking Italian story during ww2

Reviewed in Australia on 4 October 2021

𝑬𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝑶𝒇 𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝑻𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒂 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅

This year I've read quite a few books based around WW2 with all of them from a different view point. Which I feel makes all of them so much more interesting. Echoes Of War is based around the events in Italy leading up to, during and after the war. It was really interesting learning about life in Calabria, women in the family and workforce at the time, expectations and the impact of loss from the conflict. War brought death, poverty, uncertainty and stress to so many communities and this was explored beautifully in this book. I enjoyed the 'Ndrangheta aspect throughout and it sent me on the old google rabbit hole learning more about that and the Mafias journey into Australia.

It was sad reading about so much loss and devastation for this fictional family but it was lovely seeing the family pull together, learn new skills and support each other. Especially with alot of the men off at war, the women really had to step up to keep life moving even if it meant risking punishment from the government by utilising the black market to buy and sell food.

I learnt alot and found the Italian history so interesting, the fascism, Il Duce & Hitler, the ally swap and then civil war!

Reading this had me feeling so immersed in Italian culture, thinking about breads, olives, ricotta with honey and all the wines 🥰

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5 star		42%
4 star		32%
3 star		17%
2 star		6%
1 star		3%

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