Jennifer Robson: Our Darkest Night

Venice, 1943: Under the Nazi occupation, life is increasingly perilous for Italian Jews. Antonina Mazin has but one hope to survive - to leave her beloved parents and hide in the countryside, posing as the bride of a man she has only just met. Nico Gerardi was studying for the priesthood until circumstances forced him to return home to run his family's farm. A moral and just man, he refuses to remain a bystander to Nazi and fascist atrocities. The only way to keep Nina safe - and protect secrets of his own - is to convince prying eyes that their sudden marriage is a love match. But farm life is not easy for a cultured city girl who dreams of becoming a doctor like her father, and Nico's provincial neighbours are wary of this soft, educated stranger. Even worse, their distrust is shared by a local Nazi official with a vendetta against Nico. As Nina and Nico come to know each other, their relationship deepens, transforming into much more than a charade. Yet both fear that every passing day brings them closer to being torn apart...