Kate Caterina

by William Rivière

When Kate Fenn marries a young Italian medical student in London in the mid-thirties she finds herself, as Caterina d'Alessandria, in Tuscany when World War II breaks out. With her brother and brother-in-law in opposing armies, a husband imprisoned for his anti-Fascist activities and a small daughter to protect, Kate Caterina struggles to hold on to her sense of identity and her faith in a better future. A story of love, sacrifice and betrayal which gives a striking impression of what it was like to live through the war, and especially the civil war, in Italy.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Italy

378 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Born in 1954.

Reviews

[Leah Stephens · Rating 2 out of 5]

A long slog, but the ending made me cry. I could only read one chapter at a time practically because I would fall asleep.

[Katy M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is mostly introspection by the title character. Given that, it is odd how little I feel I know her. The only characters I feel that we get to know at all are Esmeralda and Luigi. Every other character is just there for KC to muse about, and not very enlightenly. Add to that an unsatisfactory ending, and this book did not live up to its subject matter.

[Corrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to get through the first 100 pages, but I really wanted to know what happened to the characters, so I continued through it. It takes place in Italy during WWII. Overall, it was worth the read. I fell in love with Italy and I felt like the characters were my part of my family.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall pretty dull, but some interesting historical information about Italy in WWI.