Tiller of the Earth: An Action Adventure Novel of World War II in North Africa

In the tradition of Ken Follett, the novel explores the roots of 20th century migration, poverty, family, and war from the perspective of a common soldier of a defeated country. Luciano Martello is born into poverty in a small village in the mountains of Calabria. After the untimely death of his father, Luciano is put to work while still a child. Tragedy strikes again when his sister dies under mysterious circumstances while cleaning the baron’s bedroom. Luciano swears to avenge her death. When he is eighteen, he meets Michela, a girl from the village who shares his dreams of emigration. Seduced by the visions of imperial glory promised by fascism, Luciano enlists in the army and is sent to Abyssinia and North Africa. At the Battle of Tobruk he is captured by the Australians and subsequently interned in a British POW camp in the Egyptian desert. While a POW, he meets Meli, the fiancée of a British officer. After repatriation, he returns to war-ravaged Calabria and a changed Michela. After several years of dire poverty, he meets Rosetta, who agrees to an arranged marriage. Though he swore an oath never to have children when he was a prisoner of war, he fathers a son, Giuseppe. He continues to plow the land until his brother, who resides in the United States, manages to have his visa approved so Luciano can emigrate to America. But there are still formidable hurdles to overcome: his wife’s vehement opposition to emigration, his son’s sudden illness, and the U.S. Consulate’s discovery two days before the ship sets sail that he has a criminal record. While he desperately searches Naples for the appropriate magistrate to bribe, his wife waits in the hotel fervently praying for his failure.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B015MBRRUW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pick & Shovel Publishing
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 20, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 928 KB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 301 pages
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #4,012,296 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #1,151 in Historical Italian Fiction #1,381 in Historical African Fiction #13,775 in War & Military Action Fiction (Kindle Store)
Customer Reviews: 3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars (2) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });