Sally Brady's Italian Adventure    by Christina Lynch Order:  USA  Can St. Martin's, 2023 (2023) Hardcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Christina Lynch's Sally Brady's Italian Adventure takes its irrepressible young heroine from 1931 Los Angeles to World War II Italy. A dust bowl refugee, Sally was sent by her desperate parents by train from Iowa at age eleven 'to find work and send money.' Escaping a cop, Sally hurls herself into a car and so meets Hollywood movie star Patsy Chen, who decides to adopt her. She spends four years 'in the velvety lap of luxury' Then, her career in a lull and divorced, Patsy takes Sally to Naples. Moving to 1931 Italy, readers are introduced to Sienese author Lapo and his English wife Eleanor, living in a half-ruined castle. Mussolini has declared Lapo's Dolce Vita, his favorite book. We also meet Lapo's eleven-year-old son Alessandro, who is not a fan of Il Duce. The story moves back and forth between the two families. Lapo is pulled reluctantly into Mussolini's orbit (as ghostwriter for Il Duce's autobiography). Sally completes Swiss finishing school; helps Patsy pen her Hearst newspaper gossip column as the Bon Vivant; and eventually takes it over. Matters gradually get darker after Pearl Harbor. Alessandro is drafted. Sally tries to leave but is refused an exit visa. Mussolini declares war on the U.S.. Good people do what they can, taking risks to help others survive. Sally and Alessandro meet, share danger and hardship, and are separated. Sally Brady's Italian Adventure is quite a story, at times tragical but at others funny and verging on farcical. Highly recommended. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Historical books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews