As the Mussolini Regime expanded through Italy and then seemed to shrink, Italians found their quality of life shrinking too. When he brought German’s into the country, resistance became strong. It may have seemed passive, but don’t be fooled.

An Italian family in a small village will be completely torn apart. As we begin, Sabatino, husband and father, has been forced into the army and shipped off to fight Hitler’s battles in Russia.  His wife, Maria, works at her simple home, with a Jewish friend, Rebecca, hidden in her attic.  Luca, the only son, born with one good arm and one that didn’t develop seems outside the web of suspicion because of his handicap.

Rebecca’s daughter, Sarah, gone from Luca’s playmate to lover has been hidden in a remote hut in the mountains as Luca works with the resistance.

Other characters resist, some for heart and right, others for money. They bring all of the threads together to weave a colorful, shocking and painful tapestry of resistance.

Heroism Makes Readers’ Blood Sing

Once Night Falls was inspired when the author and his family visited his Italian roots and he learned some unusual information about Mussolini and that regime. The book wasn’t an easy story for him to write and it must not be read lightly.

The heroism of everyday people when they refuse to be victims sets readers’ blood singing!  These people will do whatever they must to protect their own, even at the cost of their lives.

The book is fiction, but representative of real life for the Italian people during their subjection by a cruel dictator. A man who idolized an even more cruel despot.

Mussolini’s regime seriously persecuted Roma people from the beginning, including Jewish people around 1943.  The persecuted were destined to be murdered.

Just a Little at a Time

Mussolini had a strange appeal to the general population. When he joined with Hitler, every day life in Italy changed dramatically.

Some were barely affected, while others were nearly enslaved to meet needs of the Nazi invaders. Resistance was born which was, in my opinion, highly successful in releasing the country from Mussolini and deterring the German evil seeking to rule Italy.

Prolific Author

Author Rolland Merullo has published over 24 books, both fiction and non-fiction. You can learn more about his writing at Rolland Merullo