The Girl from Bologna is a heartwarming, vibrant, and tension-filled historical fiction novel set in a charming Italian city. Changing between Leila and Rhiannon’s perspectives as they navigate trauma, mystery, and relationships, Daiko has created a compelling character-driven novel. Former partisan Leila is at first just exchange student Rhiannon’s landlady, but they become so much more than cohabitants as Rhiannon falls into Leila’s nephew’s orbit and becomes mixed up in a decades-long fight against the Italian right wing. Daiko’s characters and their relationships and emotions drive the story forward, and the alternating perspectives of Leila and Rhiannon highlight the complexities of their characters, situations, and experiences as they grapple with past and current events. Daiko’s other characters are equally dynamic, mysterious, and fascinating, especially considering their own navigation of events and issues. As for the setting of Bologna, Daiko does the city justice with her descriptions of the culture and geography, really setting the background for the series of events Daiko brings to life throughout the novel. Once again, Daiko has created a fascinating, immersive dual-perspective historical fiction novel filled with dynamic, complicated characters set against a beautiful historic location, but the real charm of this book lies in the relationships.

This book alternates between 1944 in Bologna and 1981. In the 1944 timeline, Leila joins the resistance after her best friend is deported to a concentration camp. In 1981, Leila takes in a foreign exchange student, Rhiannon. Rhiannon studies at the local university, where she befriends Marie, a girl with secrets, and starts to fall for Leila's nephew.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the WWII storyline. I have never read anything about Bologna before, and was fascinated by the resistance efforts. The characters in this storyline were dynamic, well developed, and engaging. The 1981 storyline was just not as interesting. Rhiannon seemed very stereotypical and one dimensional. The plot also seemed forced and uninteresting. Because of these problems, 3 out of 5 stars.

The Past is never Past, The Girl from Bologna is the third instalment of the Girls from the Italian Resistance by Siobhan Daiko. Ms Daiko has achieved taking you back in time to Bologna, during a time of complete turmoil, during WW2 and a Civil War. Wonderfully written, dual timeline The Girl from Bologna has strong characters and a highly recommended page turning read.

I would like to thank Boldwood Books, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this complimentary copy for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A story of strength, determination, love and loyalty. The horrors of war suffered in 1944 in Bologna, are told by Leila, now in 1981, where she is also hosting Rhiannon, a British exchange student, in her home.

Siobhan Daiko is a very talented writer and I really enjoy seeing how she cleverly weaves the two timelines together. In this story, Rhiannon unintentionally becomes involved in a dangerous political plot and discovers it is linked to some of Leila’s suffering in WWII.

Bologna is beautifully described, the historical facts are fascinating and the horrific events of the war are sensitively written. Reading this book stirred up so many different emotions; above all, the strength of the young resistance fighters was so humbling.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Siobhan Daiko and Boldwood for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This book was an emotional story, which told of the issues occurring in Bologna during WW2. How the resistance fighters fought had me turning the pages to learn more.

The author has done a fabulous job of narrating the story of Leila and her colleagues, through the dual-timeline aspect.

The oral history was believable. You could visualize Leila talking into the tape recorder, and also her struggles in the past, how heartbreaking her story was, and the losses that she had to go through. Her story highlighted how the actions of the past still have an effect on the present.

Even after the war, Bologna is still going through so much. Corruption still carries on in the government. When Rhiannon, a foreign exchange student, who is staying with Leila makes the past and present together.

I highly recommend this book.

Nineteen year old Leila was devastated when her best friend Rebecca and her family, all Jewish, were captured by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz. It was 1943 and Bologna was filled with the Germans - the capture of Leila's best friend's family caused her to join the local resistance, alongside her sweetheart, and her brother. But much heartache was to follow the resistance for the years before the Allies arrived to liberate Bologna...

When Rhiannon arrived in Bologna in 1981 to begin her studies at the university, she boarded with Leila. Soon the two women - one older, one younger - were good friends, with Rhiannon feeling she'd known Leila all her life. Leila was recording her memoirs from her time in the war, initially so the family would know the truth. But her nephew, Gianluca, an investigative journalist, offered to find a publisher for the memoirs - the world should know what happened. Soon Gianluca and Rhiannon were close, with him taking her sightseeing in her time off. But there were nefarious plans afoot and Rhiannon stumbled into something terrible. What would be the outcome for the young and old in this story?

The Girl from Bologna is the 3rd in the Girls from the Italian Resistance series by Siobhan Daiko, and once again I enjoyed it very much. Well written characters, with beautifully described visions of Bologna, plus depictions of a harsh and brutal war between the Italians, the Italian fascists and the Nazis! Hard to believe Italians were fighting one another! Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is an excellent read. It gave a flavour of Bologna and while using a dual timeline narrative, did so in an imaginative way. The historic era (1944) was narrated as a memoir in the later era which was set in the 1980’s. You therefore got a window on life in both decades. It was a love story at its heart, but the personal experience was intense to say the least, with some tragic events to come to terms with. A well written informative novel

This is a dual timeline novel, where the past (WWII 1940s) is told through diary entries. The other part of the novel plays in the early 1980s. The story, the Italian Resistance during WWII, is definitely worth telling. The author has done her homework and does a good job interweaving the different aspects into the story. She juxtaposes WWII events with the political unrest in the early 80s in Italy. I remember the Red Brigade and the murder of Aldo Moro, and find this time period a nice addition to the original story. Unfortunately, the story fizzles out quickly towards the end, but I love the epilogue. Overall it’s a pleasant read with likable main characters, but you have to get past the telling instead of showing, “I could do with a drink. How about you Angelo?” Rhiannon and Angelo both respond that they would, indeed, appreciate an aperitivo…” The 1980s chapters are written in the 3rd person. Not my cup of tea and the main reason for my 3 stars, but it might not bother other readers.

Many thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a free complimentary copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What a wonderful, emotional story detailing some of issues in Bologna during WW2. The story of the dedicated resistance fighters had me reading late into the night. The author did an amazing job of telling the story of Leila and other resistance fighters using an oral history embedded in the story of Leila 30 years after the end of the war.

The oral history was soooooo believable. I could imagine the character talking into the tape recorder. I could feel Lelia's struggles with the past. Her story was so heartbreaking. The losses were devastating. Leila's oral history shows how the past still influences the present.

Years after the end of the WW2, Bologna still suffers. Corruption still riddles the government. A foreign exchange student, Rhiannon, living with Leila brings the past and the present together. The story was a great reminder of how much the past influences. We should never forget, but we should learn from the past.