Imogen Fitzgerald, raised in an English orphan works for the Count di Trosini, Giancarlo, as his kids, Eloisa and Marco’s “nanny” or teacher figure. But along the way, World War II tears through Italy and the di Trosini household. And, to add to the chaos of war, Giancarlo’s half-brother, Fabrizio, stirs Imogen’s life and twists and turns it for better or for worst.
Into the Burning Dawn shows the struggles of war, family, and love amidst a World War and the lines between enemies and friends. We are taken through years of Imogen’s life with the di Trosini’s and the struggles and hardships that she faces with the family and how she comes to show her true self.
Book: Into the Burning Dawn by Natalie Meg Evans
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: September 22, 2020
(Thank you NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review)
**While this book has already been out I did receive it early so thank you again NetGalley!**
Tags: Historical Fiction, adult, war, romance
Links: Goodreads | Ebook | Paperback | Hardback | Audiobook
Read: January 11, 2021 to January 18, 2021
In the terrace courtyard of the palazzo overlooking a sparkling bay, the scent of ripening lemons filled the air. His deep brown eyes gazed into hers with determination and longing. ‘Will you do it? Risk everything and join us?’
Twenty-one-year-old Imogen Fitzgerald was raised in an English orphanage and never knew her parents. So when World War Two breaks out, she refuses to leave the life she’s worked so hard to build for herself, teaching English to little Marco and Eloisa in the beautiful Italian city of Naples. With their father Giancarlo away fighting for the fascists, there’s no one else to care for these lost children. Imogen’s dark hair and perfect Italian will protect her for now, but if anyone discovers her secret identity as an enemy of Italy, Marco and Eloisa will be left with no one.
As the shadows of bomber planes darken the azure-blue waters of the bay, the one person Imogen can depend on is Fabrizio, the children’s uncle. He’s never seen eye-to-eye with their father, and Imogen is forbidden to speak to him… but whenever they secretly meet in the lemon groves Imogen instantly feels safe. Fabrizio talks passionately of the resistenza, the underground group fighting the regime, and soon Imogen herself is involved – smuggling food along the rocky coast, and even supplying information on Giancarlo to help fight the Nazis and end this awful war.
But when Giancarlo suddenly returns, injured from the fighting, Imogen is shocked to find him much changed. Rather than the fascist sympathiser she knew and resented, she sees in Giancarlo a man who would do anything to protect his children and his beloved Italy. Was she wrong to expose him as a traitor?
Torn between two sides, Imogen’s own life is thrown into terrible danger when a child goes missing and her secret identity is exposed… did she put her trust in the wrong man? And is it too late to save herself, and the children from the horrors of war?
An absolutely stunning and evocative historical read about the bravery of ordinary people in dark times, that will sweep you away to the breath-taking coastline of Italy. Perfect for fans of The Nightingale, The Tuscan Child and All the Light We Cannot See.
Spoiler Free Review
Imogen Fitzgerald, raised in an English orphan works for the Count di Trosini, Giancarlo, as his kids, Eloisa and Marco’s “nanny” or teacher figure. But along the way, World War II tears through Italy and the di Trosini household. And, to add to the chaos of war, Giancarlo’s half-brother, Fabrizio, stirs Imogen’s life and twists and turns it for better or for worst.
Into the Burning Dawn shows the struggles of war, family, and love amidst a World War and the lines between enemies and friends. We are taken through years of Imogen’s life with the di Trosini’s and the struggles and hardships that she faces with the family and how she comes to show her true self.
I gave Into the Burning Dawn 3.5 stars, enjoying the aspects of hardships that Imogen had to go through during World War II in Italy. She came face to face with people she could trust and people she must call enemy. I found that her relationship with half-brothers, Giancarlo and Fabrizio, were fascinating and how in some ways, that helped dictate her actions a bit throughout the story.
War, as per usual, holds a great deal and in Into the Burning Dawn, we can see how much Italy is affected by WWII, especially the di Trosini household. I love learning about WWII and how it affects different countries so I jumped at the chance of reading this book, but, I found that Into the Burning Dawn just didn’t hit the right checkpoints for me.
Throughout the story, Imogen goes from a somewhat naive nanny/teacher and grows to be a headstrong woman that dives headfirst into dangerous situations. I found that the times where she should have learned her lesson, she simply didn’t learn or didn’t realize it. Yes, she had a lot of character growth from beginning to end, but, it just seems that throughout she doesn’t learn her lesson when it comes to the people she surrounds herself with. In my opinion, it just doesn’t seem that she grew mentally as a character when it comes to reading people and what their true natures can be.
The di Trosini family definitely had its faults but I found that Into the Burning Dawn captured how strong family ties to war can truly be. The plot and the aspects of World War II are the main interests that I found were the strong suits of Into the Burning Dawn. The romance was a little lackluster but the plot more than made up for it.
Thank you again to NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review
I hope you guys have a great day, please like and comment down below if you enjoyed this book as well or if you plan on reading it!
Loves,
Veronica Chen