The Girl from Lake Maggiore

 The Girl from Lake Maggiore

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       January 9, 2026

 

Author  Siobhan Daiko

Distributor:      Amazon
ISBN:                 978-1836331056
Publisher:         Boldwood Books
Release Date:   January 9, 2026  

   Website:   https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Lake-Maggiore-unforgettable-heartwrenching-ebook/dp/B0F4W55V4X

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The Girl from Lake Maggiore is set in 1943 on the shores of Lake Maggiore, Italy in a town called Marta just before the invasion of the German army. The residents of the town believe there is an armistice, but this proves to be wrong.

Guila’s father, Aldo Leone, a businessman of some note has a prestigious Hotel on the lake shore and has over recent months been sheltering a number of Jewish families fleeing from the German atrocities.

 When they discover there are Germans in the nearby town of Stresa, they are concerned but when they are told they are rounding up all the Jews in the area, Guila and her parents, along with some of the local fishermen,  begin to plan an escape for the people who have been their friends for many months.

Unfortunately, this goes terribly wrong which sees Guila’s parents arrested, the families sheltering the Hotel shot or sent to Auschwitz and Guila having to seek help and hide from the Germans determined to arrest her.

She is helped by a young man Raffaele, a man who has always considered her as a rich, spoilt young woman, far too soft to join the local Resistance group. She proves him wrong, going on the become a valuable member of the local Resistance community, determined to seek justice for her friend Ester, killed by the German SS, and her family.

As the story wanders along over several years it loses the urgency of a group of young Resistance fighters and slowly blends into a love story of Raffaele and Guila set against the invasion of Italy with the final chapters almost far to modern for the balance of the story.

For those who enjoy a good love story set during wartime The Girl from Lake Maggiore is a comfortable and enjoyable read, but for those who need a lot more grit in the telling, it does fall somewhat short.

Fiction, General, Historical