(Reviewed by Heidi A. Swan)
If you love historical fiction, WWII and a book that will make you cry, this book is for you. Lilia is a true story about a young girl’s impoverished life growing up in Italy in a time of war. It’s about agonizing loss and, thankfully, survival.
Each scene in the book feels like a piece of colorful artwork that can sing. Author, Linda Ganzini is a gifted painter, a talented songwriter, and a passionate person with a huge heart. All of these traits are on full display in the this deeply personal story about her mother’s true life.
Below is a painfully vivid section which is emblematic of what much of this book is like. In it, Lilia watches as her mother, Maria, attacks a young lady from the village who had relations with a Nazi as well as with Lilia’s beloved older brother, who was subsequently murdered in a concentration camp.
She slapped Angelina’s face so hard that it knocked her to the ground. She lunged into the young woman as several villagers tried to pry her off. Maria’s knuckles were white as her fingers coiled into fists.
“You killed my son! It’s your fault! You slept with the Germans! You could have done something!”
…Maria shook her head with such hatred that her hair exploded out of its bun.
All the while, Padre Munnini remained silent and Lilia looked on in shock at her mother’s public display…Although heartbreaking to watch, Lilia felt every word being spewed—words that were true, as she harbored them, too.
This kind of pathos carries through the entire story. At times, it is overwhelming for the reader because there is so much misery and it is vividly described in detail. That said, Linda Ganzini fully embraces every opportunity to describe the laughter and vibrant joy
Ganzini wrote these stories with the help of her mother, Lilia. The intimacy of the work made me feel like I knew Lilia’s siblings and parents. I felt like I understood the dynamics of a small Italian village: the harsh priest, the strict delineations of chores for men and women, the whispering gossip which proves to be deadly to Lilia’s family and their neighbors.
Lilia is the first part of a saga which will carry on into two more books. Part I ends on an up note. With all her hardship as a young lady, there is much happiness to come for Lilia.
This book is absolutely worth the read. Hopefully, it will result in a film. It’s written like one.
