This beautiful story, inspired by a true historic uprising, takes you to Nazi-occupied Naples, Italy in 1943. The author focuses on the rage and resistance of a city and its people under siege where remarkable, daring, ordinary people could not be broken. Their bonds of love, family, and unfaltering courage is what helps keep them alive in the bleakest of times. 

The WWII Period Genre is one of my favorites, however, this novel did not capture me from the beginning as it has a slow start. As I continued to read, the characters eventually captured my heart, and I quickly finished the book wanting to know who survived. The gripping story has central themes of love, hope, loss, and courage…making it obvious the author did extensive research to ensure his reader could picture Naples’ destruction. While this was not my favorite, the story is still beautiful and one I would recommend.

Roland Merullo's From These Broken Streets offers a novelization of an interesting episode during WWII. After the execution of Mussolini, the figurehead king from those years negotiated the surrender of Italy to the allies. The Germans occupied much of Italy at the time, so this move to the other side wasn't simple. Germany was determined to hold Italy and increased the pace of its extradition of Jews to death camps and of healthy men to labor camps—and also planned to destroy cities as it was forced to leave them. From These Broken Streets is set in Naples, one of those occupied cities, and recounts Italian resistance to the Germans, which came together piecemeal through the efforts of individuals with some coordination from a local mafia boss.

The novel starts a bit slowly, but the characters are well drawn, so as one gets to know them the narrative becomes increasingly engaging. I move steadily through the first two-thirds of From These Broken Streets, then stayed up late to finish the last third in a single sitting. The central characters have complicated relationships with one another, and almost all wrestle constantly with self-doubt, so watching them find the courage to act as they did was a very satisfying experience. The fact that the author leaves loose ends at the novel's close is one of the book's strengths. Readers are left having to ponder the probable end of story elements that remain unresolved—and with the war not yet over and years of recovery to follow, the "story" most certainly wasn't finished after the German exit from Naples.

Of course, this is fiction, not history, so I appreciated Merullo's provision a thoughtful, thorough afterward in which he describes his research into Neapolitan resistance and explains the ways he's compressed the timeline to present events in fiction. This is a title that will appeal to a wide range of readers—WWII enthusiasts, readers of character-driven novels, readers of action novels, and readers of historical fiction. If you know anyone who falls into one of these categories, this book would make a wonderful birthday or holiday gift.

I received an electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes. The opinions are my own.

This book is a historical fiction story set in Italy during World War II.

The place and time intrigued me, but it had a very slow start.  When the characters finally capture me I had to finish the book.

A good book, not my favorite,

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC.

A gripping story of WWII Naples with central themes of love, hope, loss, and courage. 
While the first part of the story is slow to start, it picked up towards the middle and didn’t want the story to end. 
The author clearly did extensive research on the city based on the descriptions of where exactly in the city the characters were. This did distract me at times and pulled me out of the story. However, I was connected with the characters and rooted for them, their survival, and their happiness.

Merullo here, takes us on a journey through Nazi occupied Europe, this time concentrating the story on Italy, rather than Germany like so many have done, relaying a tale based on true events. Central to this plot we meet Giuseppe DiPietra whose aim, despite the fatal consequences is to assist the allied forces. Lucia Pastone is employed by their fascist government yet she too becomes embroiled in the plot to expel the Nazi invaders. Lucia's father too is in the line of Nazi fire. He works, profiting from the black market and involves his daughter in his plans and schemes. These, the young homeless boy, and all resistance fighters we encounter will stop at nothing until justice has been won and Italy is free of their invaders. We see love, strength and loyalty in this historical fiction. It was well written and engaging. The characters were truly endearing. It was a feel good book despite the context in which it was set.

From These Broken Streets by Roland Merullo is set in Naples in 1943 and begins as notorious Nazi Colonel Walter Scholl takes over command of the city. Scholl declares a curfew and a state of siege while launching a savage clampdown and forced deportations to Labour Camps. The book tells the story of a variety of characters ,from street urchin Armando to members of the Camorra  organised crime syndicate whose stories overlap as they play their part in Naples' heroic civilian uprising, "The Four Days of Naples."
This is part love story,part war story and the plight of Naples' population ,first under Allied bombing then under the Nazi Jackboot when Italy changes sides is vividly illustrated. 
Unlike many wartime  stories  this is quite even-handed, many of the Germans behave decently and the devastation wreaked on the civilian population by Allied bombing isn't white-washed,even to descriptions of Allied planes hunting  and machine gunning  people in the streets.
It's very good rather than great but it does feature a little-known part of the war when the brave people of Naples stood up to vastly superior forces and drove them out of their city,if they hadn't the subsequent Allied takeover would have involved street by street fighting with massive casualties.

Thanks to Roland Merullo, Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Armando is caught sleeping on the streets during a storm. I liked Armando and the dialogue . I couldn't get hooked to the story.

This book had a great premise, but I just couldn't connect with the characters. I tried for a couple chapters, but then gave up when a connection wasn't made.

Naples, Italy 1943.  The city is devastated by the grip of the Nazi occupation.  With the curator in the National Archives a plan to aid the Allies is being formed.  There are others who are also risking their lives to help spread the seeds of resistance.  The entire city of Naples is joining forces to take down the occupation. Yet it is not only a story of resistance, it is a story of love, family bonds and pride in a place where you live.

An amazing and moving story of a city where ordinary people find the courage to do what is necessary to save the city they love. I have long been a fan of Historical Fiction, this story is above anything else I have read before.  Not a novel to forget, it is one I highly recommend.  My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review..

I appreciated the depth of character given to all the main players in this historical fiction book about the WWII uprising in Naples, Italy. Though much happens, the timeline of the book is condensed to a few days and so relationship development happens on a short timeline– but it seems fitting that the pressures of war and fragile nature of life brought to the forefront would cause this. Overall I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to any fans of the genre.

Really enjoyed These Broken Streets. It is the first book I have read from this author and cannot wait to read more written by him.

This was a story about love and hope in the face of rising danger. Set in Naples in 1943, this book excels in evoking the image of a city under threat.
Naples was, in my opinion, the central character of the story. Every description was vivid; filled with grief and destruction, but also with strength. Even at the darkest parts of the story, Naples was still standing strong and its people were helping each other, no matter the cost. 
My only issue with this book was the pacing. The ending was brilliantly fast paced, but the beginning and middle sections sometimes felt like they stagnated as characters carried out the necessary steps required to get them to where they needed to be.

A story of love, faith, and sacrifices by a group of simple people trying to save their beloved city. It's heart-wrenching to see such sorrow and loss.  It took many decades to bring this once beautiful city of Naples back to its former glory.  When love confronts evil, evil will eventually slink away to the hell that created it.

Historical fiction is my favorite genre by far so I never turn down an opportunity to read one. This WWII tale was an enjoyable read. However, I felt that some aspects, in the beginning, failed to capture my attention and overall made the read a bit slow. A good book, but not my favorite.