#BlogTour Under the Light of the Italian Moon by Jennifer Anton

 It's my turn on the BlogTour Under the Light of the Italian Moon by Jennifer Anton.

About the Author

Jennifer Anton is an American/Italian dual citizen born in Joliet, Illinois now living between London and Lake Como, Italy. An advocate for women’s rights and equality, she hopes to rescue women's stories from history, starting with her Italian family.

In 2006, after the birth of her daughter, Jennifer suffered a life-threatening postpartum cardiomyopathy, and soon after, her Italian grandmother died. This tumultuous year began a 14-year journey to capture the stories of her female Italian ancestors and develop them into a historical/biographical fiction novel. In 2012, she moved with her family to Milan, Italy. Later, she moved to London where she has held leadership positions with companies including Revlon and Tory Burch.

Under the Light of the Italian Moon is her first novel, based on the lives of her Italian grandmother and great grandmothers during the rise of fascism and World War II.

Follow @boldwomanwrites on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit boldwomanwriting.com, Buy Under the Light of the Italian Moon

About the book

Set in Fonzaso, Italy between two wars, Under the Light of the Italian Moon tells the story of Nina Argenta, the daughter of the town’s strong-willed midwife. Nina seeks to define her own destiny but when her brother emigrates to America, she promises her mother to never leave. When she falls for childhood friend, Pietro Pante, during his brief visit from America, she has to find a way to be with the man she loves.

Pietro and Nina begin a long-distance relationship that continues as Mussolini forces political tensions to rise and his fascists throw the country into chaos. When Hitler’s Nazis occupy and terrorise their town, Nina struggles to survive and her dreams of a life with Pietro are threatened by an enemy she must face alone…

Review

Nina Argenta doesn't realise that she lives in the shadow of her impressive mother and actually has become the mother to the family her mother tends to abandon, even if it is to help others and their babies. Being the local midwife means having a lot of people rely on you day after day. It also means having to neglect your own loved ones at times.

Perhaps that is why one of Nina's brothers has decided to go forth and travel - to settle somewhere else in the world. even Adelasia realises that somehow it must mean she has failed him in some way. The fact her children have been raised to find their own independence doesn't occur to her. Even Nina eventually pushes forth from the ties that bind her to find her own path.

It's a captivating family saga and historical fiction, a story that the author connects viscerally with the moon. The surroundings, the emotions, the people and the trials they endure. They are all influenced by the ever watchful presence above them, which sometimes reminds us of its subconscious sway and at other times of its silent power. 

Anton does an excellent job of taking the reader back through the generations of strong women who defined her family and their paths. It is meticulously researched and ends on the perfect note of reverence and nostalgia.

Buy Under the Light of the Italian Moon at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.  Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers pub date March 8, 2021. Buy at Amazon com. Hive. Bookshop org. Waterstones.