The Crush of Wine and War
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Published by: Black Rose Writing
Release Date: August 8, 2024
Pages: 386
ISBN13: 978-1685134594
Synopsis
The Crush of Wine and War is a WWII story told from a unique perspective and deals with events and emotions largely unexplored, set against the myth of Austria’s victimization by Hitler and the reality of its complicity with the Third Reich, and the complicity of the Catholic Church.
1938: Two couples struggle with the terrifying prospect of resisting the Nazis. Sebastien Brandl, proprietor of a renowned Austrian inn, plunges headlong into the resistance while his wife, Hannah, deeply in love, secretly unsympathetic to the plight of the Jews, fights his choices and grieves for the idyllic lives they one led.
Maximilian Mayr, owner of a huge Viennese wine estate, reluctantly follows his sons into defying the Nazis while his wife, the survivor of a pogrom, is consumed with keeping her Jewish identity and that of their two sons an uncompromised secret. Surprisingly, they share a common nemesis, Faber Ratzener, the Brandls’ onetime neighbor and now a ruthless Oberführer intent on bringing down both Sebastien and Max.
Both families are surrounded by a community of unforgettable characters: lifelong friends wrenched apart by Nazi false promises; a wicked, gossipy baker; a heroic, gay winemaking couple, a Rabbi desperate to get Jews out of Vienna; a lovable young man whose fate is tied to Hitler. In the end, they will intersect, coming together in victory and defeat, surprising romance, and astounding acts of resistance.
Praise
"Author Molly Fumia exceptionally writes of a fragile time when friendships were severed by differing allegiances and families were ravaged by the cataclysmic hand of fate during war. Fumia’s novel is compelling reading on all counts."
–San Francisco Book Review, Full Review
"The Crush of Wine and War is the extraordinary story of two families taking on the Nazi Empire. Years of intensive research also led Molly to issue a literary challenge to a nation, Austria, and a religious institution, the Catholic Church, to continue to tell the truth about their participation in one of the greatest evils of all time. Her characters are at once good-hearted and flawed, hesitant and zealous. I found it a beautifully written and irresistible read."
–Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Archdiocese of Detroit
"Molly Fumia’s The Crush of Wine and War will enlighten, terrify, transform and haunt you: Her decades of historical research and the stories of families who faced the violent horror and terror by the brutal Nazi occupation in Austria. The simple kitchen table conversations and celebrations sharing food, wine, singing, dancing at birthdays, holiday and anniversaries bravely hiding secrets and whispering in codes for survival. The insidious and lethal poison of pure hate fed by raging anger and magnified in primal fear echoes the voices of the past to fight for our freedoms and democracy today!"
–Amazon Reader
Excerpt