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Bezig met laden... Franca's Story: Survival in World War II Italydoor Diane Kinman
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Franca's Story chronicles a young girl's determination to help her family survive World War II in Italy, spanning the years 1937-1945. The onset of war shatters Franca Mercati's privileged childhood in Florence, devastates her aristocratic family, and threatens the Italian way of life. Her sisters' fiances, then two of her brothers are sent to the front. A third brother, award-winning author Krimer, befriended by Hemingway and Picasso, volunteers as a war correspondent in Tripoli. The family flees their palatial home in Florence to escape Allied bombs and settles in their beach home at Viareggio. One brother is soon killed, and a second is missing in action. Franca and her father secure a private audience with the Pope - will his influence help them find Lt. Mercati? Franca discovers her father is helping Jewish children escape; she secretly uses his connections to rescue a wounded British pilot. She watches in horror as her school friends die in the bombing of a train station; helps when her brother-in-law is severely beaten by Fascists; and survives a harrowing ride with a deserting Nazi doctor. The family's beach home and all their possessions are destroyed before their eyes. Franca and her family slide from wealthy aristocrats to impoverished refugees surviving hand to mouth at Pianore, an old Hapsburg palace on the Italian Riviera. She and her friend Lilly scavenge for food to feed 300 older citizens living there. Franca overcomes obstacles with courage, ingenuity, good humor, and a deep faith in God as her dreams of living a traditional adolescent life are shattered by a world filled with turbulence. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)940.53History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- World War IIWaarderingGemiddelde:
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I was interested in her story because she spent the war in Viareggio, Tuscany, which is close to where my husband's family lives in Italy, and is the beach community that we most often visit. She also spent time in the hills east of there, which is probably my favourite area of Italy. It was interesting to read about places I've been and the events that happened there 50 or 60 years before me. It was also interesting to compare her war stories with the stories that my in-laws tell. And finally, I learned interesting things about the war in Italy.
What I didn't like was that there was very little acknowledgement of the position of extreme privilege that she enjoyed. I don't begrudge her this privilege--one of great wealth and powerful connections--I just wished she'd told her story from an honest position. Yes, she was bombed many times and she saw people killed, and family members died, and she was hungry--I know she suffered. But her WWII still had the feeling of The Sound of Music, or some Disney-version of a princess's experience. Despite all she endured, there were so many times when her family advantage brought fortune that was inaccessible to the average Italian. The strongest example of this is when her soldier brother goes missing in action and she travels to Rome with her father, where they have a private audience with the Pope to ask for help in finding him. When her father has a later one-on-one with Il Papa, a monk takes Franca--who is an aspiring painter--on a private tour of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel.
Also, like her art work, the veracity of some of her details just doesn't ring true. The most egregious example is when she scolded the wicked Nazi SS officer, who was twice her size, into letting her father out of work detail. Yeah, ..... no.
I wish my mother-in-law could read English, because I'd love to discuss this book with her! (no, it's not translated).
Recommended for: This is no work of literature by any means. Still, for anyone who is interested in Italian life during WWII, it's a quick and interesting read. Also, it's heavily illustrated with black and white copies of Franca's art, and they're quite charming. ( )