Selected reader reviews of Solace Wales’ Braided in Fire: Black GIs and Tuscan Villagers on the Gothic Line can be read below. Additional readers’ reviews are available here.
What Readers Are Saying about Braided in Fire
So detailed and descriptive that the reader feels transported back to that time.
The following excerpts are from a letter written to the author by Robert Brown, Jr., the son of an intelligence lieutenant who was with the 366th Infantry Regiment. Solace Wales first interviewed Robert Brown, Sr. in 1995 and often consulted with him thereafter. Brown, Jr.’s letter contains recollections of individuals in the book, as well as additional insights and information germane to Braided in Fire and concurrent events. Read the complete letter ⟶
“The picture you paint is so detailed and descriptive that the reader feels transported back to that time and, whether you were aware of it or not, you create a crescendo-like pace even though many of us readers know what will happen later, but the lead-up and background are essential to get the full impact of the story.”
The letter concludes with:
“The undercurrent of the double war fought by the black soldiers against the Germans and against the white U.S. officers hasn’t been documented enough. Until reading Braided in Fire, I didn’t realize the extent of the cruelty, inhumanity and maliciousness of the white officers who undermined the efforts of the 366 infantry. But Axis Sally [the German propaganda radio station] wouldn’t let them forget it as she played jazz to keep a receptive audience among the black troops. Unfortunately some of those same attitudes that the black soldiers had to endure are still with us today.”
Robert Brown, Jr. December 3, 2020.
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An amazing story of multiple examples of extreme courage under fire!
“I’m not someone who would normally choose to read a book about war, but I had visited this region in Italy and was intrigued by the title. . . . When I started reading this account of how these villagers were impacted by the war, I discovered the book is about far more than that particular event.
“From the opening pages, the author, Solace Wales, takes the reader into the Tuscan world during a critical moment in the struggle. You meet extraordinary villagers, vividly portrayed, whose lives become inextricably intertwined with the Axis forces, partisans, American forces, and stragglers from Brazil and elsewhere. The villagers open their homes and hearts to the forces, forever changed by the contact. But many of those soldiers, whose presence is just as compelling as the Italians, are black. They are fighting Germans, the immediate enemy, but, of course, they also are impacted daily by prejudice within the army. Some are attached to ‘the Buffalo Soldiers,’ and all of those mentioned in this book will live on in your imagination, including John Fox, the soldier that set Wales off on her quest to tell this important story. Do read it. You won’t be able to put it down.”
Lily Mackenzie is the author of three novels: Fling!, Curva Peligrosa and Freefall: A Divine Comedy and a collection of poetry: All This. August 10, 2020.
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What a pleasure to read Solace Wales’ Braided in Fire!
“What a pleasure to read Solace Wales’ Braided in Fire! She actually wove the village life of Sommocolonia before it was destroyed and during the war after Mussolini was deposed, the training and wartime life of the black 366th Infantry regiment, the horror of World War II in Italy, and the heroism of Lt. John Fox, all alive in a stunning tapestry. How in the world did she manage to shape so much material into such a rich work of art.
“I keep seeing and hearing Otis Zachary, Rothacker (Rock) Smith, Berto Biondi, Irma Biondi, the partisans, black GIs and their officers, their enemies on the Gothic line. The climactic battles over Sommocolonia between those Italian guerillas, their black American allies, the German and Austrian attackers made me feel that I had somehow become Ernie Pyle. How compelling her pictures of men at war and their suffering families. I could all but taste the iron tang of all that bloodshed. If her tapestry wasn’t rich enough, she wove in another enemy facing the 366th — racist superior officers including one who planned to send his black troops out again because only half of them were killed.
“I was 7, living in Norfolk, Virginia in 1944, where my father was running a Jewish Welfare Board USO club, packed not only with Jewish sailors and soldiers but non Jews who flocked to it, they said, because the abundant food was absolutely wonderful — and so were the hostesses. The piano player, Banner, a Chief Petty Officer, let me sit on his lap to listen and told me of his experience on the troopship “Dorchester," sunk by a U-boat in the North Atlantic. He said that the three chaplains on board gave their life preservers to drowning soldiers and sailors. World War II was woven into my mind then and there, inseparable from the timber of Banner’s voice and his amazing piano playing (he could play any tune the boys wanted). And now all that is inseparable from Braided in Fire!”
Michael Zimmerman is the author of Tyrants of the Heart: A Psychoanalytic Study of Mothers and Maternal Images in James Joyce. August 10, 2020.
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Dianne Hales is a renowned author of books about Italy. Following the publication of her New York Times-bestselling La Bella Lingua, the President of Italy awarded Hales an honorary knighthood for her contributions to promoting the Italian language. After posting “Writing an Unknown Chapter in Italian and American History” covering Wales’ answers to Hales’ interview questions, Hales received the following note from her neighbor, Linda Gallanter:
“I am reading Braided in Fire and really loving the way [Wales] has written this book. Great research, and through the eyes of this author so devoted to telling it right. {I]t’s like no other in either military history or Italian historical perspective. I think it is also told through the heart of a woman. I love historical stories, and this is one that took so much work to do, but so worth it. Thank you so much for promoting it, and telling me about it.”
Later, having finished the book, Gallanter wrote Hales:
“The author not only remained devoted to telling this story right, she did it with remarkable talent and determination. I began to feel John Fox’s character and personality affected her as a writer, and as an American who took responsibility to honor the black GIs who suffered so much in the military and in American life, and yet who were willing to sacrifice all. I felt such shame learning the details of how the army treated them. Only the gracious villagers, who, while desperate to survive the bombardments, still appreciated, shared, and cared for their black friends. The Italian villagers were and are remarkable people, and their culture and responsibility toward each other was enveloped in loving kindnesses. There were so many heroes within the fear.
“Thank you again for sending this story out in your blog.”
Linda Gallanter. August 2020.
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“It is very powerful and especially important right now when one hears the stories of how African Americans love their country even when it does not love them back.”
Hans Baldauf, part-time resident of Sommocolonia. Excerpt from correspondence with author Solace Wales who replied that Baldauf’s observation reminded her of what two veterans of the 366th Infrantry Regiment chose to wear in the last photos Wales received. September 17, 2020.
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Additional readers’ reviews are available online. Read More ⟶