In the dying days of the Battle for Italy, who can stay alive, sane and in love? 

Summer 1944. War-torn Naples teems with Allied troops but the inhabitants struggle with lack of food and work. Prostitution is rife. 

As the Italian campaign enters its second year, Frank, a British officer, knows he has been lucky. Since reopening an abandoned theatre, he has entertained thousands of Tommies by staging operas. 

Vermillion, an ATS officer, feels fulfilled working at the theatre; and with Frank falling for her, she begins to return his feelings. 

But firebombs from an air raid fan the flames of Frank’s memories of war. Nightmares threaten to engulf him. Should he hang on in Naples or confront his fears by rejoining his former comrades as they fight their way north? 

And if Frank does return to the front, what will Vermillion do? She won’t stay in Naples just waiting for his return. 

This is RJJ Hall’s second novel set in Italy during WWII. The first Theatres of War– also published by Troubador – won The People’s Book Prize (Fiction) 2013/14. Both novels, seen through the eyes of combatants and civilians, evoke the convulsions of the ‘forgotten’ Italian campaign. They make engrossing reading for anyone with an interest in historical wartime novels, Italy, opera and love stories.