Book Reviews: Walls of Lucca -- Above the Walls

The Walls of Lucca

A multigenerational romantic saga in the tradition Alessandro Manzoni’s 1827 Italian classic, “I Promessi Sposi” (The Betrothed). Physioc weaves his beautifully drawn characters through the destruction WWI to post-war rebuilding, heading toward impending disaster again as Benito Mussolini rises to power and WWII threatens to blacken the skies and hearts of Europe again. Along the way, the story treats the reader to lessons on Tuscan cuisine, the joy of vineyard life, and the wine-making process. The author adds more than a dash of humor to his narrative style, along with a spirituality that is both earthy and heavenly. Above all, “The Walls of Lucca” is about family, with all its human messiness and undying love. Family is the common link that speaks to readers of all ethnicities and citizenship. The sequel, “Above the Walls,” picks up where the first book ends. It deserves its own review. Combined, the two volumes provide a worthy companion—not rival—to Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables.”

Above the Walls

This sequel to The Walls of Lucca continues from the preamble to WWII to its devastating end. The plot revolves around three intertwined Tuscan families caught up in personal and global horrors of wartime Italy. Together, they strive to hold the middle ground of sanity and faith amid events that are both insane and antithetical to even the most basic spiritual and ethical values. Reading this book eighty years after the end of the war puts us at a disadvantage. For some readers, many of the close calls and narrow escapes of various family members strain plausibility. Had we lived in the conflicted Italy of the 1940s, we might not be so critical. This is a great read, offering tons of suspense and native wisdom, supported by a deep sense of spirituality amid the unimaginable evil surrounding one of the darkest periods of human history.

When Steve Physioc isn't writing, his other job is radio/TV commentator for the MLB Kansas City Royals.

Reviewed by Alfred J. Garrotto
Author and Manuscript Editor