A story about family and fate – and how so much of our lives hinges on chance.

A country torn apart by war. Two siblings divided by fate.

Italy, 1938. Mussolini is in power and war is not far away . . .

Clara and Pippo are just children: quiet, thoughtful Clara is the older sister, Pippo the younger brother is forever chatting. The family has only recently arrived in the city carrying their few possessions.

When Mamma goes missing early one morning, both Clara and Pippo go in search of her. Clara turns right; Pippo, left.

As a result of the choices they make that morning, their lives will be changed forever.

Diana Rosie’s Pippo and Clara tells the story of a family and a country divided. But will Clara and Pippo – and their mother – find each other again?

Review:

Moving, tragic, and absorbing!

Pippo and Clara is a bittersweet, family saga that sweeps you away to Italy in the late 1930s when Italy was full of unrest and upheaval not only due to the war being waged on the fields of Europe and getting closer to its borders by the day under Mussolini rule, but in their own countryside where simmering anger, questions of patriotism, and ongoing tension between supporters of communism and fascism was quickly coming to a head.

The prose is rich and smooth. The two main characters Clara and Pippo are lost, strong, and resilient. And the plot told from alternating points of view is an engaging tale filled with life, loss, friendship, familial drama, tragedy, heartbreak, separation, war, survival, and political unrest.

Overall, Pippo and Clara is a thought-provoking, informative, gripping story by Rosie that reminds us that often the choices we make have far-reaching consequences and has just the right amount of intrigue, colourful history, and heart-tugging emotion to be exceptionally pleasing to lovers, like myself, of historical fiction.

This novel is available now.

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