by Adam Foulds
First published 2014
Will Walker, an English field security officer, arrives in North Africa determined to control the chaos of war. He believes he can master events as the Allies pursue German forces through Sicily toward mainland Italy. Ray Marfione, a young Italian American infantryman, sees combat through different eyes as the liberation campaign stumbles forward. The two soldiers experience the brutal confusion of battle as their units advance north. Meanwhile, Sicilian shepherd Angilù witnesses the violence that engulfs his homeland. Local Mafioso Cirò Albanese operates in the shadows, understanding that armies come and go but his organization endures. The war creates temporary disruption for the crime families who controlled the island before the fighting began. As the military action intensifies, these parallel stories converge in the final chapters. The novel reveals how organized crime persists beneath the surface of historical events, outlasting the soldiers who believed they came as liberators.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, adventure, action, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: converging-storylines, parallel-narratives
Setting: North Africa, Sicily, Italy
Period: World War II
323 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Content warnings: violence, war