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It's a dangerous time to be a dissident...
1938. Northern Italy. Since saving Angelo Grimani's life 18 years earlier, Katharina is grappling with how their lives have since been entwined. As construction on the Reschen lake reservoir begins, the Reschen Valley community is torn apart into two fronts - those who want to stay no matter what comes, and those who hold out hope that Hitler will bring Tyrol back into the fold.
Back in Bolzano, Angelo finds one fascist politician who may have the power to help Katharina and her community, but there is a group of corrupt players eager to have a piece of him. When they realise that Angelo and Katharina are joining forces, they turn to a strategy of conquering and dividing to weaken both the community and Angelo's efforts.
Meanwhile, the daughter Angelo shares with Katharina - Annamarie - has fled to Austria to pursue her acting career but the past she is running away from lands her directly into the arms of a new adversary: the Nazis. She goes as far as Berlin, and as far as Goebbels, to pursue her dreams, only to realise that Germany is darker than any place she's been before.
Angelo puts aside his prejudices and seeks alliances with old enemies; Katharina finds ingenious ways to preserve what is left of her community, and Annamarie wrests herself from the black forces of Nazism with plans to return home. But when Hitler and Mussolini present the Tyroleans with "The Option", the residents are forced to choose between Italian and German nationhood with no guarantee that they will be able to stay in Tyrol at all!
Angelo, Katharina and Annamarie are trapped on separate fronts, forced to take a stand, but their enemies lurk where they thought was safest. Out of the ruins of war, will they be able to find their way back to one another and pick up the pieces?
This blockbuster finale will keep readers glued to the pages. Early readers are calling it, "...engrossing", "...enlightening" and "...both a heartbreaking and uplifting end to this incredible series!"
"Lucyk-Berger is a born storyteller." - Mary Anne Yarde, Coffee Pot Book Club blogger
"Absolutely gripping storytelling. These characters jump off the page and take you to a place too few of us have heard about; a tragic conflict overshadowed by the many atrocities committed during WW2. The Tyroleans were victims of calculated corruption enacted by the two fascist leaders, and Lucyk-Berger has whisked off the dust cover of a popular tourist spot to reveal a dark history and a highly controversial story beneath the Reschen Lake reservoir."
