Author Description

A first-hand account of the war moving through Tuscany, changing it forever. When the Second World War broke out, Iris Origo and her husband had been running the estate of La Foce in Tuscany since 1924. This is her journal of those turbulent war years, simply and beautifully told. Val d′Orcia was a sleepy enough - and distant enough - place to avoid the worst of the actual fighting, but nevertheless it was far from untouched. One of the first signs of the conflict was the arrival of orphans evacuated from the cities. Iris had her own children and the housing of additional children, as well as the sundry refugees and prisoners of war from all sides, was a central preoccupation. Despite living in the midst of farmland, food supplies were always a concern, and often had to be buried to keep them out of enemy hands. The war came into the homes of the peasants in different ways. Not everyone agreed with the course Italy was taking, and when the Italian alliance with Germany fell apart, and Italian soldiers began fighting beside the Allies, there were inevitable conflicts. An unsentimental story of civilian life in wartime, told by a woman who is herself an outstanding writer.