Category: HF Reading Challenge

Book Review – Daughters of Naples by Diana Giovinazzo @CrookedLaneBks #20BOS26

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About the Book

Front cover of Daughters of Naples by Diana Giovinazzo showing image of Naples coast line

Naples, 1940. The three Cozzolino sisters, Leta, Marcella, and Bianca, live together in their small home during Mussolini’s domination. Leta runs the De Rosa dress shop where she takes care of her mother-in-law while her husband is at war. Marcella is an apprentice to a midwife, bringing up the next generation of Italian soldiers, much to the pride of her boyfriend, who is inspired by Mussolini’s rule. But when their youngest sister, Bianca, decides to join the partigiani – the Italian resistance – after her childhood sweetheart is sent to war, familial tensions are brought to light.

The sisters are soon at odds, questioning where they stand in the war effort. When Leta’s old flame, Pasquale, asks if he can use the dress shop to send messages for the partigiani, she refuses. But when Naples is bombed, the sisters are forced to reevaluate their stances and how far they are willing to go for each other and their country.

With the threat of Nazism looming over the city after Mussolini is ousted, the Cozzolino sisters will have to confront what they are willing to sacrifice and their loyalties to each other and to their country. 

Format: Paperback (320 pages) Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication date: 21st July 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I’m always drawn to historical novels set in WW2 for the range of perspectives they provide on people’s experiences of the war and its aftermath. Daughters of Naples transports the reader to Naples at the beginning of the war when the most obvious influence on the daily lives of its residents is the conflict between opponents and supporters of Mussolini’s fascist regime.

For the three Cozzolino sisters the war further complicates their relationships with the men in their lives. Leta married Anto more out of a desire to provide stability for her and her sisters than out of passion. Now he’s away serving in the Italian army with no news of his whereabouts, or even whether he’s still alive. It’s no surprise that Leta feels conflicted when the man she rejected, Pasquale, returns on the scene, especially since he’s a member of the outlawed partigiani – the Italian resistance. Bianca’s childhood sweetheart Luca is also on active service in the Italian navy. She finds it impossible to simply wait out the war, instead she is fuelled by a desire to become involved in the resistance movement, regardless of the risk. Meanwhile Marcella’s relationship with Giovanni, a member of the squadristi, the fascist militia supportive of Mussolini who are on a relentless quest to hunt down and destroy the partigiani, reflects the fissures in Naples society.

I have visited Naples and can identify with the description of it as having a ‘gritty charm’. I enjoyed experiencing the city through the eyes of the sisters.

I suppose I should have known about the heavy bombardment of Naples by Allied forces later on in the war but I didn’t, nor how extensively damaged the city was, both its infastructure and its architectural gems. And, as the book reveals, the German occupation of Naples was brutal.

It’s not difficult to be captivated by the vicissitudes of the sisters’ emotional journeys, encompassing as they do loss and betrayal. What also fascinated me was the insights into social attitudes, particularly in Marcella’s storyline. I hadn’t appreciated the stigma associated with midwifery at this time, with midwives given the perjorative term ‘angel-makers’ because it was believed they helped women end unwanted pregnancies rather than enabling the large families the nation needed. (Mussolini regarded twelve children as the ideal number).

Daughters of Naples is the absorbing story of how war can test even the strongest bonds of sisterhood.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of Crooked Lane Books. Daughters of Naples is book 9 of my 20 Books of Summer.

In three words: Emotional, immersive, dramatic
Try something similar: Daughters of War by Diana Jefferies

About the Author

Diana Giovinazzo is the co-creator of Wine, Women and Words, a weekly literary podcast featuring interviews with authors over a glass of wine.

Diana lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband and menagerie. (Photo: Publisher website)

Connect with Diana
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Book Review – Paper Sisters by Rachel Canwell @northodoxpress

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About the Book

Lincolnshire, 1914. As the First World War approaches, three women are living, isolated between the unforgiving marsh and relentless river of the fen. Their lives are held fast by profound grief, haunted by the spectres of the past. Trapped by the looming presence and eerie stillness of a hospital that has never admitted a single patient.

Eleanor longs to escape with the man she loves, leaving her sister and memories behind. Clara’s violent marriage threatens her and her children’s safety. Lily, resolute and unyielding, will do whatever it takes to preserve the past and keep her family unchanged, regardless of the cost.

Format: Paperback (384 pages) Publisher: Northodox Press
Publication date: 12th February 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I’m not sure you could come up with a more atmospheric setting for a novel than this. A house on the remote Lincolnshire Fens, separated from the nearest village by a wide stretch of river which can only be crossed by a swing bridge. And beyond the house, a hospital which has never housed a single patient. ‘Dark, squat against the earth, an abandoned sentry to the fen beyond.’ Yet there’s also a feeling of claustrophobia because of the intensity of what is playing out inside the house.

Eleanor, Lily and their brother Frank have all been profoundly affected by a tragic death. Frank, now estranged from his sisters, has become an angry, bitter man often erupting into drunken violence, with his wife Clara the main victim. Lily’s grief seems to have triggered a descent into madness, so much so that Eleanor fears for her sister’s safety and locks her in the house when she visits the village. Or more likely, the hospital because Eleanor spends her days going through the ‘practised and pointless’ routine of folding towels, cleaning floors and changing sheets on beds that have never been occupied.

Before long we realise there is a sinister game being played out between the two sisters, a contest of wills in which Lily appears to have the upper hand. In one memorable scene, the sisters stand either side of a locked door, each straining to hear sounds of movement from the other, waiting to see who will yield first.

Eleanor’s mistake is to underestimate Lily’s capacity for manipulation and her determination to ensure they remain a family unit. Only their sister-in-law Clara sees through Lily’s wiles and understands her objective is to destroy any chance of Eleanor marrying John, the local blacksmith, and allow her to break free from her constrained existence.

There’s another factor though. This is 1914 and the first inklings of war are starting to appear, such as the compulsory purchase of horses by the army. Soon the young men of the village are joining up, fuelled by feelings of patriotism. For those left behind it means uncertainty, worry and a dashing of hopes for the future. Ironically for others, it brings a respite, even the possibility of a different future. Soon, of course, the news is one long roll call of those killed or wounded, some of whom have suffered life-changing injuries both physical and psychological.

Both Eleanor and Lily are women of extreme emotions. There’s screaming, crying, pounding on doors. So much so that at times it all felt rather frenzied. I struggled to find any redeeming features in Lily. I found myself urging Eleanor to recognise she was being manipulated whilst also appreciating her feelingsof responsibility for her sister. My favourite character was Clara – astute, courageous and determined to do whatever was necessary to protect her children.

There’s an undercurrent of tension throughout the book, a sense of a pressure slowly and inexorably building so that, even before it happens, you know it’s inevitable there’s going to be some sort of explosive finish.

Paper Sisters is an atmospheric story of simmering emotions and the weight of secrets.

In three words: Emotional, intense, dramatic
Try something similar: Blasted Things by Lesley Glaister

About the Author

Rachel Canwell is an author who, having grown up in the Fens, has lived and worked in Cumbria for over twenty years.

Her short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies. Her collection of flash fiction Oh I Do Like to Be was published in 2022 and her novella-in-flash Magpie Moon in 2023.

Paper Sisters is her first novel. (Photo/bio: Publisher website)

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