La Vacanza

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This is the true story of a young boy’s holiday. In May 1940 nine-year-old Bernard Moscardini and his mother set off from Bedlington, Northumberland for a summer holiday in the tiny mountain village of Sommocolonia in Northern Tuscany. Soon after their arrival Benito Mussolini declares war on Britain and France, and Bernard’s mother frantically attempts to arrange passage back to their home in England but, by now, all the frontiers are closed. Thus begins the absorbing story of a child’s life in wartime Italy and his daunting experiences when Sommocolonia becomes the front line during the German retreat from Italy in 1944. Through the eyes of a child, this is a tale of peaceful peasant life abruptly shattered by the rigours of war. It is also the story of a brave mother’s determination to return, against all odds, safely back home to England with her two children.