Author: whatcathyreadnext

#BookReview The Artist and the Soldier by Angelle Petta

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About the Book

Two young men come of age and fall in love against the backdrop of true events in World War II.

It’s 1938. Bastian Fisher and Max Amsel meet at a Nazi-American summer camp, Camp Siegfried. Neither boy has any idea what to do with their blooming, confusing feelings for one another. Before they can begin to understand, the pair is yanked back into reality and forced in opposite directions.

Five years later, during the heart of World War II, Bastian’s American army platoon has landed in Salerno, Italy. Max is in Nazi-occupied Rome where he has negotiated a plan to hire Jews as ‘extras’ in a movie – an elaborate ruse to escape the Nazis. Brought together by circumstance and war, Bastian and Max find one another again in Rome.

Format: ebook (348 pages)         Publisher: Warren Publishing
Publication date: 1st May 2018 Genre: Historical fiction, LGBT

Find The Artist and the Soldier on Goodreads

Purchase links*
Amazon UK | Hive (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The Artist and the Soldier is described as “exploring the true stories of Camp Siegfried, a Nazi-American summer camp in New York, and the making of the film which saved hundreds of lives”. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if more of the book had focused on how camps like Camp Siegfried came to be run in America as it seems quite extraordinary now that young people should have been exposed to pro-Nazi propaganda at this time. Having said that, in her afterword, the author talks more about the inspiration for the book and you can also find out more in my Q&A with Angelle conducted ahead of its publication in 2018. (Unfortunately this will also demonstrate – to my shame – just how long this book has been in my review pile.)

Understandably, the main focus of the book is the relationship between Max and Bastian, both of whom are forced to hide their true sexuality. The author does a good job of conveying the confusion and uncertainty caused by their growing feelings for each other, the shifting dynamics of their relationship and also the exhilaration of finding someone with whom you can be yourself. Max and Bastian also share troubled home lives and have experienced family tragedy. Before their relationship can develop further, however, a shocking and, to my mind, unforgivable action on the part of one of them drives them in different directions.

The son of an Italian mother, Max takes up his Uncle Franco’s suggestion that he travel to Italy, where he eventually enrols in film school. Meanwhile Bastian, in an act of rebellion against his violent and pro-Nazi father, enlists with the US Army. ‘What would anger his father more than anything in the world? If he joined the fight against the Nazis.’ He is posted abroad and it will be many years until Max and Bastian meet again.

I confess I wasn’t a huge fan of the frequent “head-hopping” between the thoughts of different characters (occasionally within a single paragraph). I found it rather distracting and sometimes had to re-read a section to work out whose thoughts were being revealed. I much preferred the chapters later in the book written mainly or entirely from a single point of view. As it happens, this coincided with the change of location to wartime Italy and this was much the most interesting part of the book for me.

Bastian’s sister, Ilsa, makes an appearance in the second half of the book and I found her a particularly engaging character. Whereas I found Bastian difficult to like – even his sister describes him as “the king of self-preservation” – I admired Isla’s conviction that she could help to make the world a better place. Enrolling as a nurse, her intervention proves crucial on a number of occasions and I wished for a happier outcome for her.

The Artist and the Soldier combines an intense love story with the depiction of real life events. In doing so it shines a light on the courage and resilience of those who tried to protect others from the horrors of war.

My thanks to Angelle for my digital copy of her book and waiting so patiently for my review.

In three words: Intense, intimate, absorbing

Try something similar: Mussolini’s Island by Sarah Day

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Angelle Petta authorAbout the Author

Angelle Petta began writing novels over 15 years ago and has written in several genres.

​She holds an MA from Emerson College, and a master’s equivalency in Drama Therapy through the NADTA.  Angelle is a registered drama therapist and a PhD student at Lesley University.  She works as a Drama Therapist at an Expressive Arts Center in Virginia called A Place To Be.

​She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, two delightful dogs, and one fat cat.

Connect with Angelle
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

 

#WWWWednesday – 9th September 2020

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WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

Currently reading

A book from my TBR pile and an ARC

The Artist and the SoldierThe Artist and the Soldier by Angelle Petta (ebook, courtesy of the author)

Two young men come of age and fall in love against the backdrop of true events in World War II.

It’s 1938. Bastian Fisher and Max Amsel meet at a Nazi-American summer camp, Camp Siegfried. Neither boy has any idea what to do with their blooming, confusing feelings for one another. Before they can begin to understand, the pair is yanked back into reality and forced in opposite directions.

Five years later, during the heart of World War II, Bastian’s American army platoon has landed in Salerno, Italy. Max is in Nazi-occupied Rome where he has negotiated a plan to hire Jews as ‘extras’ in a movie – an elaborate ruse to escape the Nazis. Brought together by circumstance and war Bastian and Max find one another again in Rome.

9781838770709City of Spies by Mara Timon (ARC, courtesy of Zaffre and Readers First)

LISBON, 1943. After escaping from Nazi-Occupied France, SOE agent Elisabeth de Mornay, codename Cecile, receives new orders: she must infiltrate high society in neutral Lisbon and find out who is leaking key information to the Germans about British troop movements. As Solange Verin, a French widow of independent means, she will be able to meet all the rich Europeans who have gathered in Lisbon to wait out the war. One of them is a traitor and she must find out who before more British servicemen die.

Complications arise when ‘Solange’ comes to the attention of German Abwehr officer, Major Eduard Graf. As they get to know each other, she struggles to keep her lies close to the truth.

But in a city that is filled with spies, how can she tell who is friend, or foe?

Recently finished

Links from the titles will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

Talland House by Maggie Humm (eARC, courtesy of She Writes Press and Random Things Tours)

Charlotte by Helen Moffett (ARC, courtesy of Zaffre and Readers First)

Adrift by Amin Maalouf (ARC, courtesy of World Editions)

The United States is losing its moral credibility. The European Union is breaking apart. Africa, the Arab world, and the Mediterranean are becoming battlefields for various regional and global powers. Extreme forms of nationalism are on the rise. Thus divided, humanity is unable to address global threats to the environment and our health.

How did we get here and what is yet to come?

World-renowned scholar and bestselling author Amin Maalouf seeks to raise awareness and pursue a new human solidarity. In Adrift, Maalouf traces how civilizations have drifted apart throughout the 20th century, mixing personal narrative and historical analysis to provide a warning signal for the future. (Review to follow)

The Ghost Tree (A Betty Church Mystery Book 3) by M. R. C. Kasasian (eARC, courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

Detective Betty Church is forced to revisit ghosts from her past when a skeleton is found buried in the woods.

July, 1914: Sixteen-year-old Etterly, running from something, hides inside the trunk of a tree and disappears. The police search but find no trace. Her family and friends rack their brains, but come up with nothing. And so slowly life returns to normal. The hole in the tree is boarded up and the town of Sackwater moves on. Only Etterly’s best friend, Betty, clings to hope, insisting she can hear her friend crying for help.

June, 1940: A skeleton is discovered buried in the woods. Though most clues have long since decayed, it is wearing an unusual necklace. As soon as Inspector Betty Church sees the evidence she recognises it. The necklace belonged to Etterly. Fearing the worst, Betty is determined to solve this strange case once and for all.

What happened to Etterly? And why has this secret remained buried for so long? (Review to follow)

What Cathy (will) Read Next

9781785631887The Girl from the Hermitage by Molly Gartland (eARC, courtesy of Lightning Books and Rachel’s Random Resources)

It is December 1941, and eight-year-old Galina and her friend Katya are caught in the siege of Leningrad, eating soup made of wallpaper, with the occasional luxury of a dead rat. Galina’s artist father Mikhail has been kept away from the front to help save the treasures of the Hermitage. Its cellars could now provide a safe haven, provided Mikhail can navigate the perils of a portrait commission from one of Stalin’s colonels.

Nearly 40 years later, Galina herself is a teacher at the Leningrad Art Institute. What ought to be a celebratory weekend at her forest dacha turns sour when she makes an unwelcome discovery. The painting she embarks upon that day will hold a grim significance for the rest of her life, as the old Soviet Union makes way for the new Russia and Galina’s familiar world changes out of all recognition.