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dolcezzina21's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I've ever read. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a rich, captivating story based in truth. It explores the Italian Jews' experience in the time of Hitler, the role of the Catholic Church during that time, and the challenges of priesthood. No matter what genre you prefer, this book will appeal to you and it has a little of everything, I promise, and is part of what makes it such an engrossing read. I couldn't tend to my adult responsibilities this evening until I finished this book. That's when you know a book is truly special. This book reached into my soul and for a brief moment in time, I lived and saw through the eyes of those that suffered and rejoiced long ago. Amy did their stories justice and then some. I can definitely see this story becoming a movie very soon!
karenreads1000s's review against another edition
4.0
Great story and wellwritten. I was not as familiar with what happened in Italy during WWII. We must never forget.
jenniferrae29's review against another edition
5.0
5 star historical fiction romance. It’s such a tough balance to get the love, fear, hope, war, religion, facts and romance all in a book so well together. I loved reading about the Catholic Church’s role in WW2. Quite possibly my favorite historical fiction of the year and it’s only January!
jillccox's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful WW II novel set in Florence and Rome, this is the story of Ava and Angelo and how their love and faith evolve as the war progresses. This book is deeply moving with wonderful characters. 4.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
jennsbookstack's review against another edition
5.0
“From Sand and Ash” is a beautiful story about Jews and. Catholics in Italy before and during WWII. It is written by Amy Harmon, author of a personal favorite: “What the Wind Knows.” I really fell in love with this book & the beautiful messages of love, hope, and faith. Harmon examines the relationship between faith and religion through her two main characters, Eva and Angelo. Eva is Jewish and Angelo is Catholic. I loved learning more (much of the happenings in the book are lifted straight from history) about the Italian involvement in the war, how the Jews were persecuted in Italy first under Mussolini and then by the Germans themselves, & how the Catholic Church worked to shelter many. In Italy, 80% of the Jewish population was spared, while 80% of the Jewish population of the rest of Europe was lost.
fawnponzar's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great book! The writing is beautiful. I love the imagery, analogies, the religious motifs. I appreciate the breaking of “rules” in each character’s religion to prove a point that they all have the same god.
theseasoul's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
|| 5 ⭐️ ||
I am weeping!
Something about the way the main characters were written had me devoted to them from the very start (maybe it was the adorable childhood perspectives at the beginning). I was completely invested in both of them, and I couldn’t stop reading. The tense moments had me on the edge of my seat, and the heartbreaking moments made me cry. I was feeling all the things along with them. One of the best, if not the best WWII historical fiction I’ve read this year—after a while they all tend to morph together, but this is a book I will be remembering.
|| Content warnings ||
Around 3 scenes of passionate kissing, one of them a bedroom scene that faded out. A character struggles with lust throughout the whole story. Then of course there’s all the dark tragedies that come with war and the Holocaust: murder, violence, guns, racism & genocide, bodily fluids, and mentions of rape. Suicide.
I am weeping!
Something about the way the main characters were written had me devoted to them from the very start (maybe it was the adorable childhood perspectives at the beginning). I was completely invested in both of them, and I couldn’t stop reading. The tense moments had me on the edge of my seat, and the heartbreaking moments made me cry. I was feeling all the things along with them. One of the best, if not the best WWII historical fiction I’ve read this year—after a while they all tend to morph together, but this is a book I will be remembering.
|| Content warnings ||
Around 3 scenes of passionate kissing, one of them a bedroom scene that faded out. A character struggles with lust throughout the whole story. Then of course there’s all the dark tragedies that come with war and the Holocaust: murder, violence, guns, racism & genocide, bodily fluids, and mentions of rape. Suicide.
rom_na's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
readerrobin's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars from me. Slow to start but love how it turns out.
christie88's review against another edition
5.0
Gut wrenching, painfully uplifting because when horrors of war were revisited, in any form, tears were bound to fall.Abundantly.
When I read "The Nightingale" last year and watched "The Book Thief" a month ago, I told myself that I truly was a WWII enthusiast.Just like Amy Harmon, I will always be fascinated with stories of war.
Not to mention, a brief remembrance of "Atonement" and that classic "Sophie's Choice" and "The English Patient" so undoubtedly being consumed with these courageous tales made readers like me, vulnerable and renewed after. Rebirth.
As Eva said, "From sand and ash, rebirth. From sand and ash, new life."
There's a gluttony for pain, death and violence in me, perhaps. A consuming need to devour pieces of literature dedicated to the heroic, innocent people who were shot, bombed, executed, and incarcerated----because of "preposterous reason" to rule over the other. That WAR. Shaped from different perspectives.
Amy Harmon has once again proven she can weave stories of survival and sacrifice. And the spiritual aspect of this particular novel touched the deepest part of our human existence.
Angelo, an angel of God was torn between the moral dilemma of breaking his vow to priesthood and committing his love for Eva. He, likened to David's succumb to temptation when he saw Batsheba, was forced to a life- changing decision of protecting the woman at all cost. Angelo was fleshed out, a flawed priest who gave in to basic human desires to immortality. Love a woman. Have a family.Bear a son.
Eva, a devious Jew, a brilliant violinist, who defied odds when she protected her fellow Jews amidst the terrifying Germans and Hitler's tail following them--determined to vanish the tribe from earth. Her bravery to sustain the refuge of her religious family, sometimes watching some of them died, hearing their cries of anguish and hopelessness brought tears to my eyes. Eva knew that no one knows the nature of God.She knew HE is everyone's GOD. He wouldn't be if he was only God to some of his children, right?
Gabrielle's scene with her son, Pierre broke me.Mario's act of gratitude, too. And most of all, the knowledge that Eva's father, her family did not survive the war was all heartbreaking. You know the feeling that death loomed just near, because you were reading a war story recounted by Eva's journal...but still unexpectedly painful.
When I read "The Nightingale" last year and watched "The Book Thief" a month ago, I told myself that I truly was a WWII enthusiast.Just like Amy Harmon, I will always be fascinated with stories of war.
Not to mention, a brief remembrance of "Atonement" and that classic "Sophie's Choice" and "The English Patient" so undoubtedly being consumed with these courageous tales made readers like me, vulnerable and renewed after. Rebirth.
As Eva said, "From sand and ash, rebirth. From sand and ash, new life."
There's a gluttony for pain, death and violence in me, perhaps. A consuming need to devour pieces of literature dedicated to the heroic, innocent people who were shot, bombed, executed, and incarcerated----because of "preposterous reason" to rule over the other. That WAR. Shaped from different perspectives.
Amy Harmon has once again proven she can weave stories of survival and sacrifice. And the spiritual aspect of this particular novel touched the deepest part of our human existence.
Angelo, an angel of God was torn between the moral dilemma of breaking his vow to priesthood and committing his love for Eva. He, likened to David's succumb to temptation when he saw Batsheba, was forced to a life- changing decision of protecting the woman at all cost. Angelo was fleshed out, a flawed priest who gave in to basic human desires to immortality. Love a woman. Have a family.Bear a son.
Eva, a devious Jew, a brilliant violinist, who defied odds when she protected her fellow Jews amidst the terrifying Germans and Hitler's tail following them--determined to vanish the tribe from earth. Her bravery to sustain the refuge of her religious family, sometimes watching some of them died, hearing their cries of anguish and hopelessness brought tears to my eyes. Eva knew that no one knows the nature of God.She knew HE is everyone's GOD. He wouldn't be if he was only God to some of his children, right?
Gabrielle's scene with her son, Pierre broke me.Mario's act of gratitude, too. And most of all, the knowledge that Eva's father, her family did not survive the war was all heartbreaking. You know the feeling that death loomed just near, because you were reading a war story recounted by Eva's journal...but still unexpectedly painful.