A Thread of Grace {Unabridged Audio}.

Book review by Jane
The story was exceptional, but extremely hard to keep up with while listening on tape. I will need to order the book in book form. This historical novel about WWII Italy covered several different people from different backgrounds, which made it difficult to keep up with the individual story lines while listening. I imagine it would be a little difficult to read, as well, but it would be easier to go back and refresh where the story switches story lines. That being said, it was well worth trying to keep up with the story.

The story was obviously well researched and has a definite real feel to it. Not only does the history ring true, the characters seem genuine and suffer real fates. Very little is candy coated in this war story. The bloodshed appears random as if in a war; whereas people who die often have intricate, complicated lives, same as the survivors. Mostly, it seems Mary Doria Russell does not take sides or play favorites, but instead seems to look at how war affected individuals just trying to have a life. There was an unsettling devil’s advocate passage involving a Nazi that left me uncomfortable and at the same time seemed to express just how cruel the war was to everyone involved. In fact, there are several poignant scenes in this book, representing many different outlooks.

The main situation is that Jewish people from France were trying to escape the Nazis and went into the Alps and over into an Italian valley where the Catholics hid them from the Nazis. That got quite complicated. Ultimately, it is a story of people looking out for people in difficult circumstances. With all the scenes of war, that message is not lost, and is also true to the history.

Jane.