The Reschen Valley:
Season 1 - 1920-1924 - Box Set
By Chrystyna Lucky-Berger
She wants her home. He wants control.
The Fascists want both.
1920.
Former Austrian Tyrol.
When Katharina
Thaler, a young Tyrolean farmer, finds a wounded Italian engineer in the
mountains of the Reschen Valley, her decision to save his life thrusts both of
them into a labyrinth of corruption, prejudice and greed.
Angelo Grimani,
a civil engineer, knows the details of a project that may destroy Katharina’s
valley. Not in favour of it himself, he returns home to fend off the forces
that envision the biggest reservoir in Italy, headed by Angelo’s own father.
As the Tyroleans
gear themselves to fight for their land, the Fascist party gathers power and
momentum. Katharina and Angelo must each decide what to protect: love or
country?
Dive in and
discover the gripping saga based on a history you never knew. This box set
contains the first three of six books: No Man’s Land: Part 1, The
Breach: Part 2, The Smuggler of Reschen Pass: The Prequel and
bonus material including, From Jutta’s Kitchen: 12
South Tyrolean Recipes to bring the Reschen Valley series closer to home. Save
now on the regular individual retail price!
“They can take your land, they can take
your weapons, but they cannot take the fight out of you…”
When Italy had joined the Triple Entente, they had been promised
much. However, such promises seemingly meant nothing when the Great Powers met
at Versailles. Instead of the land they had been promised when they signed the
secret Treaty of London, Italy would have to be content with the territory of
Trentino and the Tyrol, a permanent seat on the League of Nations, and a
massive debt to a nation they had rapidly lost all respect for. So much for
their French and British allies and their promises. So much for America and
their loans.
Captain Angelo Grimani knew
all about the war. He had fought at the Battle of Marmolada under the command
of a Colonel who was not fit to serve. Good men had died and for what? Greed?
Power?
Katharina Thaler is as
content as any woman could be after the end of a war which claimed so many
lives. But now, on top of everything else, those in power had decided to
annex Tyrol to Italy. Italian soldiers were now patrolling the newly attained
border. Life, as Katharina had known it, would never be the same again.
When I was asked if I would
like to review Reschen Valley: Season 1 - 1920-1924 - Box Set by Chrystyna
Lucyk-Berger I jumped at the chance. The box set contains the first two books
in the series as well as the prequel:
No Man’s Land
The Breach
The Smuggler of Reschen Pass:
A Reschen Valley Prequel.
I am going to approach this
review the same way I approached the box set — one book at a time!
No Man’s
Land
Italy
is ready to embrace industry, but to do so, they need electricity. Their newly
acquired land could hold the answer. As soon as the annexation has been signed
off, they can start work on their planned dams.
Katharina Thaler lives in one
of the proposed sites for a dam, but for now, she is oblivious to their plans,
and besides, even if she did know, Katharina has more pressing issues to worry
about. She is pregnant and the child‘s father has abandoned her.
Captain Angelo Grimani had
been sent to the Reschen Valley to survey the land. However, while he was
there, he was attacked. If it were not for Katharina, he would be dead. He
likes Katharina, and in another time and place then maybe they could have… But
that was just wishful thinking, for Angelo is married and his life is far away
from Reschen.
No Man’s Land is a
beautifully woven story about two very different people and a land that calls
to them both for very different reasons.
Lucyk-Berger has not only
created a very enthralling novel but one that is utterly engrossing. She has
painted a vivid picture of a hard-up, but incredibly resilient community, in
which she has placed her spirited heroine. Katharina is a character that I
instantly adored. She is a strong-willed but passionate young woman who finds
herself in a challenging situation. She risks everything for a forbidden love
and on the face of it loses.
In comparison to the farming
community of Reschen and Katharina, is the very sophisticated Italian Captain,
Angelo Grimani. Angelo finds himself in the most terrible of situations — no
matter what he does, he loses. He is faced with impossible choices. Angelo
knows the difference between right and wrong, but sometimes there is a blur
between the two. Angelo wants to see Italy become great. He is a very loyal
citizen, and yet, he does not want to destroy long forged communities to see
that change. At times I did not want to like him, but as Katharina found out,
he is very hard to resist. He certainly isn’t the antagonist in this story, far
from it. However, he does create problems for himself by trying to pacify
everyone. His wife asks him to choose her side of the argument, his father ask
the same, and he doesn’t know how to balance both of their desires with his
own. It is no wonder that he discovered a moment of peace in Katharina’s arms.
Lucyk-Berger has created a
very convincing historical backdrop for her characters and has set them up
for what promises to be a must-read series.
The Breach
A great deal has changed in Katharina’s life. She is
now a wife and a mother. Her husband, Florian, has never asked who the father
of her daughter is. Instead, he has accepted her daughter as his own. No one
must know the truth. Ever.
Angelo Grimani has a recurring dream in which a dam,
of his making, bursts in the Reschen Valley, fooding everything and taking
something very precious away from him. Only, he does not know what it is that
has been taken. Not that it matters. It is just a dream. And besides, there are
more important things to think about. As Italy becomes more and more enchanted
with Benito Mussolini and his promises, Angelo must make a decision. Will he
stand with his father and the Partito
Nazionale Fascista or will he stand with his wife and the people of
Tyroleans.
The Breach is
one of the most enthralling historical fiction stories that I have ever read.
Taking up where the No Man’s Land had left off,
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger has penned a book not only vibrant in its narrative but
also one that is rich with authentic historical details. Lucyk-Berger’s compelling
style pulls you right into the story from the first sentence and does not let
go of you until the last full stop.
I did not pause for breath between finishing No Man’s
Land and starting The Breach. I was desperate to know what was going to happen
next. I am pleased to say I was not disappointed. This book had everything I
desired and then some. Lucyk-Berger has lavishly evoked the land that she has
set her story in. The rise of fascism in Italy during this era has been
painstakingly researched and alongside some very appealing characters, made
this book impossible to put down.
Although our wonderful
protagonists do not meet again in this book, they are very much in each other’s
thoughts. I really felt for Angelo, and although some things he does are
deplorable, he is still an incredibly likeable character. He makes mistakes,
and yet he learns from them, at least, he seems to. His relationship with
Signora Gina Conti added an exciting twist to the story! It certainly
complicated his life even more than it already was.
There are some fascinating
supporting characters in this book as there was in No Man's Land. Jutta Hanning and
her son stole my heart. She is a single woman who is dedicated to her child and
the inn that she runs. When everything, at last, seems to be going the right
way for Jutta, fate then deals her a horrible hand. She is a very brave and
courageous woman, whom I could not help but admire. Another supporting
character that I adored is Katharina’s husband, Florian. He is such a lovely
man, Katharina could not wish for a kinder more loving husband. He is
incredibly patient with her, and even though he is longing for her to confide in him about the
father of her daughter he does not press her for information. However, it is hard for him to compete with someone he doesn’t
even know the name of.
I thought The Breach was really rather marvellous.
Wonderfully addictive. Lucyk-Berger is a born storyteller.
The Smuggler of Reschen Pass:
A Reschen
Valley Prequel
Fritz Hanny has friends, money, and a future. Marrying Cecilia, a young woman
from the neighbouring village, would make his life complete. However, Cecilia’s
father has other plans for his daughter that does not involve Fritz. Fritz is
not the type of person to give up, but one drunken night changes the course of
his life forever. Now he has a wife who does not love him and a child who is
disabled. Life has become a bitter disappointment.
I was really
looking forward to finding out the backstory to Jutta. The Smuggler of Reschen Pass: A
Reschen Valley Prequel was a magnificent addition to the series.
Lucyk-Berger
has a masterful style the pulls you right into the heart of the story. I
thought this novella was brilliantly executed. Fritz Hanny is not the most
likeable of characters. He does some truly terrible things, especially to
Jutta, and I loathed him for that.
Lucyk-Berger
has explored the darker side of human nature in this tale, and she has done so
with great skill and splendour. This story appalled, impressed, and fascinated
in equal measures. It is wonderfully told and impossible to put down.
If you are looking for your next historical fiction
series, then do not pass by Reschen Valley: Season 1 - 1920-1924 - Box Set by
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger. This is a fantastic series. A real gem.
I Highly
Recommend.
Review
by Mary Anne Yarde.
The
Coffee Pot Book Club.
Pick up your copy today!
Chrystyna
Lucyk-Berger is an American author living in Austria. Her focus is on
historical fiction now. She has been a managing editor for a publishing house,
has worked as an editor, and has won several awards for her travel narrative,
flash fiction and short stories. She lives with her husband in a “Grizzly
Adams” hut in the Alps, just as she’d always dreamed she would when she was a child.
Congratulations on your award, Chrystyna!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Penny!
DeleteCongratulations on your award. Your series sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteLovely of you to say so! Thank you!
Delete