Book Review: Two Fatherlands (A Reschen Valley Novel Part 4) By Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

Two Fatherlands 

(A Reschen Valley Novel Part 4)

By Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

Publication Date: April 13, 2021 Publisher: Inktreks/Lucyk-Berger Page Length: 636 Pages Genre: Historical Fiction (WW2).

It's a dangerous time to be a dissident...

1938. Northern Italy. Since saving Angelo Grimani's life 18 years earlier, Katharina is grappling with how their lives have since been entwined. Construction on the Reschen Lake reservoir begins and the Reschen Valley community is torn apart into two fronts - those who want to stay no matter what comes, and those who hold out hope that Hitler will bring Tyrol back into the fold.

Back in Bolzano, Angelo finds one fascist politician who may have the power to help Katharina and her community, but there is a group of corrupt players eager to have a piece of him. When they realise that Angelo and Katharina are joining forces, they turn to a strategy of conquering and dividing to weaken both the community and Angelo's efforts.

Meanwhile, the daughter Angelo shares with Katharina - Annamarie - has fled to Austria to pursue her acting career but the past she is running away from lands her directly into the arms of a new adversary: the Nazis. She goes as far as Berlin, and as far as Goebbels, to pursue her dreams, only to realise that Germany is darker than any place she's been before.

Angelo puts aside his prejudices and seeks alliances with old enemies; Katharina finds ingenious ways to preserve what is left of her community, and Annamarie wrests herself from the black forces of Nazism with plans to return home. But when Hitler and Mussolini present the Tyroleans with “The Option”, the residents are forced to choose between Italian and German nationhood with no guarantee that they will be able to stay in Tyrol at all!

Out of the ruins of war, will they be able to find their way back to one another and pick up the pieces?

This blockbuster finale will keep readers glued to the pages. Early readers are calling it, "...engrossing", "...enlightening" and "...both a heartbreaking and uplifting end to this incredible series!"

Book Rating:

📚📚📚📚📚 ⭐ = A book in a million.

📚📚📚📚📚 = I could not put this book down. I Highly Recommend.

📚📚📚📚 = A really great read.

📚📚📚 = It was enjoyable.

📚📚 = It was okay.

📚 = Um...! 😕

My Review

Two Fatherlands 

(A Reschen Valley Novel Part 4)

📚📚📚📚  

Before reading this novel, I knew nothing about the history of Lake Reschen, in fact, I had never even heard of it. So, I Googled it, and as I stared at the most hauntingly moving image of a bell tower rising out of the water, I could not help but think about what it must have been like to live in this small town during the era this book is set in. While the 14th century church tower still reaches for the heavens, the homes, farms, and land would be forever underwater. A ghost town where only fish and eels enter homes without knocking. I can understand why Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger's chose to write about this place during this era.

I certainly jumped in the deep end when I agreed to review this novel, and I did struggle initially to get to grips with all the characters and what part they had to play. However, once I had figured who everyone was then I really began to enjoy it.

Katharina was a character that I really enjoyed reading about. She has so much on her plate, her daughter runs away in the hope of becoming an actress and her very wayward son courts trouble. On top of that is the realisation that her community will be sacrificed to make way for the dam. But that is not all Katharina has to worry about. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I think it is sufficient for me to stay that this she was a character that I really came to adore, and I enjoyed reading about her.

The other character central to this story is Angelo. He is unhappily married and really wants a divorce. He is wealthy and has some influence, and it is with that influence which he tries to use to help Katharina, the mother of his illegitimate daughter. Angelo was a character that I was always in two minds about. On the other hand, his daughter, Annamarie, certainly knows how to court trouble and ends up being swept away by her determination to fulfil her dreams.

I thought this novel's historical backdrop was very realistic in the telling, and the characters were very believable. However, I wish that I had started with book 1, as I felt that there were many backstories that I had missed out on. Nevertheless, this novel is certainly an enthralling read and one I would recommend. 

You can find this book at your favourite online bookstore.

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger is an American author living in Austria. Her focus is on historical fiction. She has been a managing editor for a magazine publishing house, has worked as an editor, and has won several awards for her travel narrative, flash fiction and short stories. She lives with her husband in a “Grizzly Adams” hut in the Alps, just as she’d always dreamt she would when she was a child.

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