Saving the Music

Bellafortuna Series, Book 2

De: Vincent B. "Chip" LoCoco

Narrado por: Bob Neufeld

It is the winter of 1942, and the world is at war. A few Jewish musicians attempt to flee the Nazi death grip, each desperately trying to navigate his own path to safety. With the courageous aid and kindness of strangers, they soon find themselves in Rome, where under the highly secret help of the Vatican, they are hidden in Bellafortuna, a small village in Sicily.

The residents of Bellafortuna welcome them and care for them, and for a fleeting moment, the horrors the musicians are facing are forgotten while residing in the beautiful, idyllic landscape of Sicily. But word soon reaches the small village that Italy has surrendered, now making Germany at war with Italy.

War quickly comes to the village as the Germans storm into Sicily to repel the Allied advance. As Bellafortuna becomes front and center in the raging war, the villagers rise as one to try and protect and save the Jews hiding in their midst. Failure to keep them hidden will mean death to those under their protection and, perhaps, even to the villagers themselves.

An intricately plotted and meticulously researched novel, Saving the Music demonstrates how, in the face of death and unspeakable horror, the strength of the human spirit of ordinary people can shine bright through the darkness.

©2020 Vincent B. "Chip" LoCoco (P)2020 Vincent B. "Chip" LoCoco

The love and sacrifice of the Italian people

I loved this book. I’m of Italian-American descent. This summer I’ve listened to all kinds of historical fiction and fiction books about Italy. This has been my favorite book! I’d read A Song for Bellafortuna first and was charmed by that story.
Saving the music was so fascinating about Italy in WW2. Learning about how the Italians took in and saved the Jews in this novel and better yet really did it in WW2 was uplifting. Learning about Pope Pius’s role was eye opening. The life of the village and especially the very human sacrificing characters really fleshed out the book.
I strongly & lovingly recommend this book!

Beautiful story

Really enjoyed this story. I struggled a bit at the beginning to follow the characters, but that’s probably just bc I needed to see names instead of hearing them. Truly a remarkable story.

Outstanding historical fiction!

The story was fascinating and captivating from the beginning and continued like that to the end! While dealing with the horrors of the Holocaust with reverence and truth, it was also filled with light and hope based on the heroic actions of many of the people in Italy and Rome who sacrificially gave of themselves and risked their own lives. The epilogue and author’s notes at the end are as or even more fascinating than the story itself. Well done!

Advance Reviews

Here are some Advance Reviews for Saving the Music.

From AudioFile Magazine:
“Bob Neufeld exquisitely narrates this WWII story set in Vatican City, Rome, and Sicily. After 15 Jewish musicians and their families miraculously escape from a train and make their way to Vatican City, they are protected by church officials. Listeners will follow them to Bellafortuna, Sicily, where they live and work with the villagers. Neufeld skillfully portrays the many personalities and diverse accents. His best creations are Pope Pius XII, who quietly orders his staff to hide and save countless Jews, and Father O'Flaherty, whose Irish charm belies his steely determination. A common love of music by the Bellafortunians and Jewish musicians makes a beautiful addition to the somber undercurrent. Finally, Neufeld presents a fascinating epilogue and author's notes, which add further depth.” S.G.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2020]

"In Saving the Music, author Chip LoCoco writes of the efforts undertaken by common villagers, priests, and even a Pope to protect Jews from the Nazis. He vividly depicts the horrors faced by the Jews as they confront the Holocaust. Filled with real heroism and high drama, this book brings perspective and depth to its subject. It's an exciting read on an important topic, and I strongly recommend it."
-Ronald Rychlak, Author of Hitler, the War, and the Pope

"This is a well composed novel that captures key moments of the Holocaust as it relates to the Italian people. I highly recommend it."
-Professor Vincent Lapomarda, S.J., Author of The Jesuits and the Third Reich

"This is a well-researched novel and reflects the situation as it then existed, hopefully, never to return."
-Fr. Peter Gumpel, S.J., postulator of the cause of beautification for Pius XII

"Chip LoCoco's novel, Saving the Music, is a realistic fact-based story of pain, fear and true heroism. The premise is solidly grounded on documented facts of the actions of the Catholic Church under the Pontificate of Pope Pius XII down to priests and individual Catholics. Saving the Music is an exciting and engrossing read, which joins the list of wonderful truth-based books of late that is shedding light on the truth ending the worst character assassination of the 20th Century. Bravo."
-Gary L. Krupp, Author of Pope Pius XII and World War II- The Documented Truth

Repetitive to the point of being boring

I found the author's writing style excruciatingly painful. The repetitive conversations drove me crazy. I'm wondering if the author was targeting a young audience (grade school) and thought he needed repetition to get his point across. I listen to 50 or more audiobooks a year about WW2 and this one is vying for worst book ever published.