The Way Back to Florence

I gave this story 5 stars on Good Reads, and if I could I would double it to 10.

This beautiful and tragic story is told in alternating viewpoints and with gorgeous language. The author’s level of detail is so deep, there are times I feel the vibrating of the Freddie’s Lancaster bombers and smell the paint on Isabella’s palette.

The opening chapters had me in tears, not so much for the separated lovers, but Freddie’s feelings as he prepares to bomb his beloved Florence are exquisitely—can you tell I love Florence?—and vividly detailed.

So the story broke my heart at the very start and continued to stomp it into little pieces as I continued to read. The writing held the story up, like the music of a cello, if you follow me, deeply sad yet uplifting at the same time.

The narrative returns to when Isabella and Freddie met in 1937 in art school as Mussolini rose to power, along with Oskar, a German Jew, and Francesco, the Maestro and his assistant, the evil Fosco. From there, we follow the ensemble cast at they navigate Nazi occupied Italy.

While I read, and many times when I read stories from this era of occupied Europe, I’m always struck by how neighbors turn on neighbors or how some become partisans and fight. Isabella just wants to paint, to create, while all she knows is being destroyed from within and from above. She loves Freddie, but her fatalist attitude won’t let her see past today and the occupation, the war. When a German officer takes an interest in her, her fear of what her neighbors think conflicts with her fears of reprisal in not going along with the occupiers. Survival for Oskar is centered on his young daughter, Esme, and returning to Florence, where he knows Isabella will help him, and Francesco, after the truly foolish mistake of losing his crush Marina’s diary, and which eventually leads him to join the partisans.

This is a dark story, though, like the cello, there are moments of joy. Torture and escape. Starvation and a generous stranger. Terror and wonder.

If someone asked me to describe this books I would say it is poetic, passionate, and fast paced. It went by way to quickly for my liking, I wanted it to never end. In this historical fiction novel you follow the lives of  Freddie, Isabella, and Oskar against the backdrop of  in Italy during World War II. What I enjoyed the most is that their personalities are distinct, they do not feel generic at all. Isabella is a strong individual, she puts herself in so much danger to help others as well as project art. I went to art school for a few years and for me personally art is culture. It is a way to show how a group or individual feels, but also shows what they see around them. Art is very important. Freddie is a pilot during the war. His does gruesome work and is faced with danger often. During this time he bonds very well with his crew mates and you experience his point of view of the bombing, which I found interesting to read. Oskar, whose story is not really described in the description so I wont say much, but he is also a very distinct character who has a very important non-passive role in this book. I felt that this novel described a lot of the various roles citizens could have taken during the war. 

I could easily go on about this, I honestly REALLY enjoyed this. It has all of the elements of a historical fiction that I look for. It takes place during an active time in history, the characters are involved in the events in different ways, and I genuinely connected with these characters. For me a bonus of this book was that it took place outside of Germany, France, and Britain. For me personally I had not read a WWII historical fiction that took place in Italy so it caught my eye even more than a historical fiction normally would. Over all I would say if you enjoy historical fiction, art, WWII related books, and you enjoy reading about characters that feel like real people you need to pick this up. I give this book an easy 5 stars!

The Way Back to Florence. Glenn Haybittle.
Utterly gripping, this novel transports you back to war ravaged Europe - in particular the Florence of Mussolini which draws together the threads of the story.
Isabella an Italian artist remains there painting and hoping to see her English husband Freddie again. Freddie studied with Isabella but returned to England when Italy declared war on her. He now pilots one of the Lancaster bombers V Vicky that will disgorge its load on Florence.
At times sensitive and lyrical and others harrowing and brutal we see via a group of well drawn characters all interconnected, their loves, hopes, trials and betrayals portrayed in absorbing detail.
The setting is equally well drawn and we feel for the place as well as the characters. Haybittle gets to the soul of Florence and of the base in England where Freddie and his crew wait for each mission. V Vicky takes on a life of its own. To Freddie and crew she is more than just a machine.
The mood and atmosphere of the various settings is drawn with an extremely fine line enabling the reader to feel not just for but with the characters.
Superbly written, this is the best book I have read for a long time. A modern classic.

I'm not sure why, but I didn't always think of Italy when I thought about WWII. It wasn't until several years ago while on a vacation in Italy that I realized the impact . We visited Monte Cassino and graves of US soldiers there . But I have to admit that didn't know very much about Florence and the war. So this book brought yet another facet of the war with its beautifully written depiction of the effect of the war on Florence and a group of characters living there . I really liked the descriptive writing from the beginning which just got better and better. It took me a while to connect with the characters, but once I did I couldn't help but care about them and be concerned for their fate.

Through alternating narratives we come to know Isabella, an artist, her English pilot husband Freddie, Oskar, the German Jew, who'd rather dance than paint and eventually his 6 year old daughter Esme. There is an expanded cast of characters who interact with these main characters as the story progresses. The alternating narratives work so well here as we see the harrowing impact of the war on Isabella, drawn into a scheme to forge old paintings to save the originals from the Nazis, on Freddie as he engages in his bombing missions, and on Oskar and Esme as they seek refuge and safety. This is a story of war but it also is a story of relationships - husband and wife, teacher and student. It also wonderfully depicts the friendships that are fostered in military . But my favorite is the beautiful father and daughter relationship of Oskar and Esme. It's heartbreaking and touching as they maneuver through the danger.

The writing is very good and the story is compelling. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel. It's not easy to read at times, though. There are arrests and torture and death, glimpses into concentration camps which provide such a realistic picture of the time, and the day to day experiences of people trying to survive the war. While this is fiction, I couldn't help but think that these characters might just reflect the courage and the resilience of some real people in Florence during the war. I definitely recommend it to readers of historical fiction. Once again I thank Goodreads friends Esil and Diane for what has become our monthly buddy read.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Chenye Walk through NetGalley.

The Way Back to Florence
by Glenn Haybittle (Goodreads Author)
108416
Nancy Cunningham's review Sep 12, 2017 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: historical

The historical fiction market has been awash with WW2 stories over the past few years, and I have read my share of them. But, this book stands apart from the others in my mind. It retains all of the elements integral to novels of that period: nasty nazis; the horror of the holocaust; and the personal pain that ensues from war.

The beauty of this book for me was the loyalty of friends amid the struggle, and the instinct of survival even during the most harrowing and horrific circumstances. There were more "evil-doers" than good guys in Haybittle's world, but his good characters were so beautifully conceived that the reader truly inhabited their world.

I was tense throughout the entire book because there were very few periods of tranquility for the characters. A lot of time was spent in a British fighter plane---narrowly escaping the enemy bombs. This novel certainly doesn't glamorize war, but it elevates the bonds of friendship that military men form during their service. Haybittle's descriptions of the superstitions and rituals of the RAF pilots were interesting and humanizing and helped me understand the mind-set of men who approach death on a daily basis.

And, lest we forget the horror of the Nazi reign, this book takes the reader in to the concentration camps. It is painful reading, but a welcome reminder of where intolerance and prejudice can take us.

THE WAY BACK TO FLORENCE was both beautiful and painful to read. I could not take a constant diet of this subject matter, but it was a book that I am grateful to have experienced. NetGalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an impassioned story of love and brutality, told from multiple points of view over a span of several years, before and during WW II.
Isabella and Freddie had barely begun their life together when war separated them.
What most struck a chord with me was the character Oskar, and his love for his daughter Esme. How do you teach a child so young that the "bad people" want to hurt you just because you are Jewish? To hide who you are for your own safety but to not give up hope. There was so much ugliness, and desperation but Esme never gave up hope because of Oskar.
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This was a thought provoking tale of the cruelty of war and I can't count the number of times my heart was in my throat and tears were in my eyes..

I can not recommend this book highly enough. It is written with sensitivity and passion. It made me smile, cry and cringe at the thought of what was happening. A page turner set in the Second World War and which encompasses bravery, poignancy and love. I did not want it to end, it needed it to do so I order to find out what happened to the characters. Brilliant.