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A review by jax036
Daughter of Calabria by Tania Blanchard
3.0
Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia for the chance to review this book early.
A snapshot at life in Calabria, Italy during the conflicts and wars leading up to and during World War II.
Following Guilia, a girl insistent on bucking the traditional life of getting married and settling down with children, she decides she would prefer to follow in the footsteps of her Nonna and become a healer.
Personally, I found that a lot of the novel read more like a textbook on what life was like at the time than a historical fiction novel and there were large periods were Guilia's conflicts with the people around her were grating.
I understand that the traditional ways would have been difficult for a lot of girls at the time, but the constant stubborness and rehashing of old arguments made the book longer than required for me.
I did enjoy learning about the struggles between the north and south of Italy, and the hardships that families were forced to endure through this period of time, not only through war, but natural disasters.
Not a book that I would choose to re-read but I am happy to have read it and glad that others are enjoying it.
You can tell that Tania Blanchard has taken a lot of time and care to research the period and that love of her family has fuelled this novel.
A snapshot at life in Calabria, Italy during the conflicts and wars leading up to and during World War II.
Following Guilia, a girl insistent on bucking the traditional life of getting married and settling down with children, she decides she would prefer to follow in the footsteps of her Nonna and become a healer.
Personally, I found that a lot of the novel read more like a textbook on what life was like at the time than a historical fiction novel and there were large periods were Guilia's conflicts with the people around her were grating.
I understand that the traditional ways would have been difficult for a lot of girls at the time, but the constant stubborness and rehashing of old arguments made the book longer than required for me.
I did enjoy learning about the struggles between the north and south of Italy, and the hardships that families were forced to endure through this period of time, not only through war, but natural disasters.
Not a book that I would choose to re-read but I am happy to have read it and glad that others are enjoying it.
You can tell that Tania Blanchard has taken a lot of time and care to research the period and that love of her family has fuelled this novel.