Love, Resistance, Betrayal
Love, Resistance, Betrayal.
Love, Resistance, Betrayal is a mixture of fact and fiction, based on the true story of Gavino Luna (stage name: Gavino de Lunas), a famous Sardinian poet and singer who became a war hero, fought against the regime that ruined his country and was ultimately betrayed.
His heart broken, Gavino decides to enlist in the Italian army, persuading his two friends, Nigola and Martine to do the same. Although it’s 1914, and a violent war rages across Europe, Italy has chosen not to become involved. But Benito Mussolini has other ideas, plans that will change Italy forever and draw her into not one, but two World Wars. A patriotic Sardinian, Gavino decides the only way to save his country is to fight against those responsible for dragging them all into hell.
As a Slovenian citizen under Austro-Hungarian control Anej has no choice but to defend the Empire from the Italians, but his fight is only just beginning. Determined his own children will grow up free and never be used in other people’s wars Anej joins the struggle for an independent country, a decision that leads to love and heartbreak.
Delighted to renew his friendship with ex-lover Margherita Sarfatti, Jewish businessman Moise Pace is happy to provide financial support to her latest prodigy, Benito Mussolini, until he begins to have doubts about the direction the country is heading. As the danger from their German ally increases Moise wishes he’d made different choices.
Father Ben Lawrence has no idea why God has chosen him to serve on the Western Front, but he is determined to go wherever he is needed. His faith leads him to the Vatican where he realises his purpose is to save as many people as possible from the scourge of fascism, beginning with Slovenia.
Through the Great War, the turbulent decades of the 1920s and 1930s, the occupation of Slovenia and the massacre in the Ardeatine Caves on 24 March 1944, Love, Resistance, Betrayal follows the lives of several people in Sardinia, Italy, Slovenia and the Vatican.
***Contains adult content***
Gavino Luna
Although Gavino’s resistance activities in Italy are well known, little is known about his private life and who betrayed him.
I was asked to write a book about his life by his granddaughter. It is a mixture of fact and fiction in a similar way to Lives Apart. A WW2 Chronicle and A One Way Ticket. Gavino’s life is fascinating, an incredibly brave man who risked his life so many times for others. Its a real honour to have been asked to write about him.
Cover design by Flintlock Covers
