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Once Night Falls
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
A harrowing historical novel of the extraordinary acts of ordinary people in Nazi-occupied Italy.
Italy, 1943. Luca Benedetto has joined the partisans in their fight against the German troops ravaging the shores of his town on Lake Como. While risking his life to free his country, Luca is also struggling to protect Sarah, his Jewish lover who’s hiding in a mountain cabin. As the violent Nazi occupation intensifies, Luca and Sarah fear for more than their own lives.
In the heart of their village, their mothers have also found themselves vulnerable to the encroaching Nazis. But Luca’s mother, undeterred, is devising her own revenge on the occupiers. With Mussolini deposed and Allied armies fighting their way up the peninsula, the fate of Italy hangs in the balance, and the people of Lake Como must decide how much they’re prepared to sacrifice for family, friends, and the country they love.
The most trying of times will create the most unexpected heroes and incredible acts of courage in this stirring narrative as seen through the eyes of those devastated by war-torn Italy.
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What listeners say about Once Night Falls
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carolyn Covello
- 2019-12-16
Joe the Sicilian
Fabulous book and narration. Fast moving and captivating depiction of wartime Italy. I remember neighbors in Brooklyn despairing over the war in Italy and the tragedy Mussolini brought to their homeland. Worse their sons were sent to fight in Italy which was hard on the immigrants who were now citizens but had family in their homeland. A fabulous listen - well done.
5 people found this helpful
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- Diane Day
- 2020-01-19
Bravo 👏
Once Night Falls is an emotional look into WW2, the struggles that the Italian people endured, Mussolini and, of course, Hitler and his brain-washed soldiers.
Mr. DeLoreto gives a perfect performance which enhances the story.
Perfection.
4 people found this helpful
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- Violet Lapineg
- 2020-01-03
Historical Gem
Loved the detailed and vivid lines of the story and the narrator’s voice with Italian and German accents. Great book.
4 people found this helpful
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- robert
- 2020-09-19
Loved it!
Couldn't turn it off.
There are a cast of characters all intertwined Each chapter left you wanting to know "what next?" But the next chapter would be regarding the exploits of a different character. The suspense was wonderful.
Extremely enjoyable.
2 people found this helpful
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- Avid Reader
- 2020-09-10
Most Excellent
I've not read much about Italy during World War II, or their resistance. Poignant, as are all WWII stories, and very well read.
1 person found this helpful
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- Michael Fusco
- 2020-08-17
Read this before you run your mouth
The US still teaches it's children that Italy "switched sides" at the end of Mussolini's reign. I know this, because I had a wannabe NeoNazi confront me about it during that chapter my sophomore year of high school. If you don't think we are repeating the mistakes of history, then you NEED this book
1 person found this helpful
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- paula wright
- 2020-02-12
Glad I stayed the course. I hated the narrator
Yes. I hated the narrator for first ten minutes. Then I got so engrossed in story I didn’t mind him. Then the next day I continued the audio book and loved the narrator. It could not have been told by a woman especially a weak voiced woman and been just as effective It was a dark book. Historical fiction which I learned so much from. Really didn’t know the extent of Mussolini,s part inWW2. narrator emulated the sadistic nazis voice as cold and guttural and sadistic. Story left partially open for listeners own interpretation. Will read more from this author
1 person found this helpful
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- Wendy
- 2020-01-05
Not my favorite......
I have loved Merullo's Buddha series... to the extent that I have them in audio and print versions.... but this one falls short for me. I've read a lot about WW2 in Europe but this one did not hold my interest at all. I found the characters hard to follow and just wasn't interested in them. I was most interested in the female characters but they were not as fleshed out. I would have returned the book but I have used my returns for a while. Merullo's love of Italy is clearly evident but its just something that doesn't appeal to me. The narrator's voice felt angry throughout and didn't add to the story. Just couldn't finish it.
2 people found this helpful
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- Gina Nello
- 2021-02-21
I’m hard to please but I loved this book
Just the right amount of history matched with believable characters. Loved this book .... out of the 30 books I’ve listened to in the past year this is in my top 3!
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- Suzanne-Marie
- 2020-07-01
Not Merullo’s finest
Since discovering Roland Merullo’s writing a few years back, I have eagerly sought out his work. I’ve read, reread & recommended his Breakfast (Lunch & Dinner) With Buddha series as well as The Delight of Being Ordinary. The engaging excellence of those prompted me to read nearly all of his other writings. In my opinion, Once Night Falls is not at all his finest.
Once Night Falls tends to just drone on, with little modulation of storyline or development of characters or content about which I ever grew to care, in spite of the seriousness and drama of the historical setting. I found it to be flat and definitely not a page turner.
Not helping the situation in the audio version is the reading by Angelo Di Loreto, which he delivers in a low-voiced, nearly one-pitched, unmodulated tone of hushed, intimate anxiety. it’s irritating.