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

Top positive review

Wonderful story of a strong family

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 .

Top critical review

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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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From Australia

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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Helpful

‘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

Helpful

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		31%
3 star		17%
2 star		6%
1 star		3%

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