DNF. Tuscany is trapped in the middle of the skirmishes of WWII. Vittoria doesn't know what he role in the was should be, nor does she know who to believe when it comes to the truth of what is happening. We also follow a black American soldier and watch the struggle that all blacks had to overcome just to be valued as humans, let alone soldiers. This was too rough for me. The story line was hard to follow and I ended up skimming the soldier/battle scenes. There was plenty of realism with the foul language and rough conditions, but I didn't feel invested in the characters at all. Too bad, since it seemed like a compelling story. Did not finish.

This book was hard for me to finish. Not because of the plot, but because it was very slow to read and before things evolved to some kind of excitement - I was at the pass mid section of the book. For that reason I am giving it only 3 stars. Otherwise, it was OK

Sound of the Hours is set during World War II in Italy. The two central characters are Vita, a young Italian and Frank, one of the black U.S. Buffalo Soldiers sent to liberate Italy. They meet and fall in love – an interracial relationship that is not accepted at this time. The novel starts out prior to their meeting alternating chapters on the background of each. For me, Frank’s story was more compelling. The premise of couples meeting like this during World War II is not new, but his novel brings a new layer of prejudice in addition to the dangers presented during war. The characters were fully developed – my main criticism would be the length of the novel – many areas could be condensed to move the narrative along more quickly. There were areas that caused me to skip ahead.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloombury Publishing for the opportunity to read and give an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This book looked like one I would fall in love with, the blurb sounded good, the cover is lovely; but I could not love this book, I just could not. I found the characters were hollow and I could not really get into the story. While the surroundings of the story were nice I did not enjoy the way the story was told. I really wanted to like it, but it dragged on and on.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

Fans of the WWII romantic novel will enjoy this one for its portrayal of a little known area of Italy- Barga, which boasts an incredible number of Scots, many of whom were Italians who went to Scotland and then returned. It also saw some of the worst fighting of WWII. Vittoria, a young woman whose mom was is a fascist and dad is more a Scot, is stuck in the middle and coping with privation and war and then she meets Frank, an American. Frank's a Buffalo Soldier, which makes him all the more interesting. Vittoria's coming of age and her romance with Frank is well done- these two face a lot. This is long and it does take some patience, especially in the beginning, but it's wonderfully researched and I learned a lot. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A big saga and a good read.

The story of an interracial couple set during WWII. DNF. I just could not connect even after 4 tries.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the Arc.
1*

I loved the setting and time period of this book but felt it could have been edited better. It was a good historical fiction book

The Sound of the Hours is a story set in Italy during the later years of a war. I really, really enjoyed this book! The story was something I hadn't read similar to before and I think thats why I enjoyed it.