A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism

The acclaimed author of A Train in Winter returns with the final volume in her Resistance Quartet—the powerful and inspiring true story of the women of the partisan resistance who fought against Italy’s fascist regime during World War II.

In the late summer of 1943, when Italy broke with the Germans and joined the Allies after suffering catastrophic military losses, an Italian Resistance was born. Four young Piedmontese women—Ada, Frida, Silvia and Bianca—living secretly in the mountains surrounding Turin, risked their lives to overthrow Italy’s authoritarian government. They were among the thousands of Italians who joined the Partisan effort to help the Allies liberate their country from the German invaders and their Fascist collaborators. What made this partisan war all the more extraordinary was the number of women—like this brave quartet—who swelled its ranks.

The bloody civil war that ensued pitted neighbor against neighbor, and revealed the best and worst in Italian society. The courage shown by the partisans was exemplary, and eventually bound them together into a coherent fighting force. But the death rattle of Mussolini’s two decades of Fascist rule—with its corruption, greed, and anti-Semitism—was unrelentingly violent and brutal.

Drawing on a rich cache of previously untranslated sources, prize-winning historian Caroline Moorehead illuminates the experiences of Ada, Frida, Silvia, and Bianca to tell the little-known story of the women of the Italian partisan movement fighting for freedom against fascism in all its forms, while Europe collapsed in smoldering ruins around them.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

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A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism

The acclaimed author of A Train in Winter returns with the final volume in her Resistance Quartet—the powerful and inspiring true story of the women of the partisan resistance who fought against Italy’s fascist regime during World War II.

In the late summer of 1943, when Italy broke with the Germans and joined the Allies after suffering catastrophic military losses, an Italian Resistance was born. Four young Piedmontese women—Ada, Frida, Silvia and Bianca—living secretly in the mountains surrounding Turin, risked their lives to overthrow Italy’s authoritarian government. They were among the thousands of Italians who joined the Partisan effort to help the Allies liberate their country from the German invaders and their Fascist collaborators. What made this partisan war all the more extraordinary was the number of women—like this brave quartet—who swelled its ranks.

The bloody civil war that ensued pitted neighbor against neighbor, and revealed the best and worst in Italian society. The courage shown by the partisans was exemplary, and eventually bound them together into a coherent fighting force. But the death rattle of Mussolini’s two decades of Fascist rule—with its corruption, greed, and anti-Semitism—was unrelentingly violent and brutal.

Drawing on a rich cache of previously untranslated sources, prize-winning historian Caroline Moorehead illuminates the experiences of Ada, Frida, Silvia, and Bianca to tell the little-known story of the women of the Italian partisan movement fighting for freedom against fascism in all its forms, while Europe collapsed in smoldering ruins around them.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

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A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism

A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism

A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism

A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism

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Overview

The acclaimed author of A Train in Winter returns with the final volume in her Resistance Quartet—the powerful and inspiring true story of the women of the partisan resistance who fought against Italy’s fascist regime during World War II.

In the late summer of 1943, when Italy broke with the Germans and joined the Allies after suffering catastrophic military losses, an Italian Resistance was born. Four young Piedmontese women—Ada, Frida, Silvia and Bianca—living secretly in the mountains surrounding Turin, risked their lives to overthrow Italy’s authoritarian government. They were among the thousands of Italians who joined the Partisan effort to help the Allies liberate their country from the German invaders and their Fascist collaborators. What made this partisan war all the more extraordinary was the number of women—like this brave quartet—who swelled its ranks.

The bloody civil war that ensued pitted neighbor against neighbor, and revealed the best and worst in Italian society. The courage shown by the partisans was exemplary, and eventually bound them together into a coherent fighting force. But the death rattle of Mussolini’s two decades of Fascist rule—with its corruption, greed, and anti-Semitism—was unrelentingly violent and brutal.

Drawing on a rich cache of previously untranslated sources, prize-winning historian Caroline Moorehead illuminates the experiences of Ada, Frida, Silvia, and Bianca to tell the little-known story of the women of the Italian partisan movement fighting for freedom against fascism in all its forms, while Europe collapsed in smoldering ruins around them.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781094106038
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 01/28/2020
Series: Resistance Quartet Series , #4
Edition description: Unabridged
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

About The Author

Caroline Moorehead is the biographer of Bertrand Russell, Freya Stark, Iris Origo, Lucie de la Tour du Pin, and Martha Gellhorn. Well known for her work in human rights, she has published a history of the Red Cross and an acclaimed book about refugees, Human Cargo.


Derek Perkins is a professional narrator and voice actor. He has earned numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. Augmented by a knowledge of three foreign languages and a facility with accents, he has narrated numerous titles in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres.

Table of Contents

Principal Characters xi

Chronology xiii

Maps xvi

Preface xix

Part 1 The Fall Of Italy 1

Chapter 1 A Roman coup 3

Chapter 2 Interlude 24

Chapter 3 Bursting into life 37

Chapter 4 A war zone 55

Chapter 5 Making lions 72

Chapter 6 The piccoli geni 90

Chapter 7 A little woman 112

Part 2 A Year Of Fire 133

Chapter 8 Heedless 135

Chapter 9 The hunters and the hunted 156

Chapter 10 A lizard among the rocks 167

Chapter 11 Nesting in kitchens 181

Chapter 12 Summer of flames 198

Chapter 13 Haunted by death 205

Chapter 14 Learning to live better 230

Part 3 Liberation 253

Chapter 15 Mothers of the Resistance 255

Chapter 16 Squashing the cockroaches 270

Chapter 17 Insurrection 289

Chapter 18 Bloodletting 312

Chapter 19 A love of forgetting 330

Afterword 345

Acknowledgements 349

List of Illustrations 351

Bibliography 353

Notes 363

Index 375

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