Synopsis

As a shroud falls across Italy, a plucky young nurse from the vineyards of Barbaresco and the rebellious daughter of a wealthy Jewish Fascist come of age in the crosshairs of evil.

Mussolini’s Fascist Italy is a perilous time to come of age, especially for two socially disparate, plucky girls who forge an unexpected friendship. Social norms do not constrain them. Sara, a spirited Barbaresco farm girl eschews that life to nurse the poor. An even greater calling awaits her. Doretta, the strong-willed daughter of a Fascist Jewish banker, yearns for a life as a lawyer. Together, Sara and Doretta look squarely at the future, seeing what adults do not see—cannot bear to see.

Teenage Doretta creates an obsessive mortal enemy when she fearlessly confronts budding Mussolini acolyte, Baldo Volpe. He pursues Doretta for years to come, using his power as a member of the feared secret police to harm those she loves, including Sara. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, powerful widow Cornelia Bottero, who united Doretta and Sara as girls, involves the young women in her clandestine efforts to rescue Jews from the hell of Hitler’s Germany. Italy’s surrender in 1943 transforms Cornelia’s mission from rescue to resistance. Sara joins as a battlefield nurse. She heals, but Doretta, now aware she has a formidable enemy in league with Piemonte’s Nazi occupiers, fights. Will her life be the price to save those she loves?

Angel of Alta Langa is a fast-paced, spellbinding saga of heartwarming emotion, unimaginable evil, gut-wrenching suspense, and abiding love inspired by real-life events. From the vineyards of Barbaresco and the forests of Alta Langa, to the putrid cells of a prison in Turin, experience the horror—and the humanity—of Piemonte’s darkest years of the twentieth century.