From Sand and Ash

From Sand and Ash is a historical romance novel set in Nazi-occupied Italy during World War II. The story follows Eva Rosselli, a young Jewish woman, and Angelo Bianco, her childhood friend, who becomes a Catholic priest. As the war intensifies and the Holocaust reaches Italy, Eva and Angelo must navigate their forbidden love while facing life-threatening dangers and moral dilemmas. The novel examines themes including The Endurance of Identity in the Face of Persecution, The Tension Between Faith and Desire, and Love as a Source of Strength. Amy Harmon is a bestselling author whose books have appeared on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists. Her novels are published in 12 countries and span several genres, including historical fiction, romance, and young adult literature. Her most successful books include Making Faces, Running Barefoot, The Law of Moses, A Different Blue, and The Bird and the Sword. The Law of Moses won the Whitney Award in 2015, and From Sand and Ash received the 2016 Whitney Award for Book of the Year. The Bird and the Sword was also selected as a Goodreads Best Book finalist. Harmon’s writing focuses on complex characters faced with challenging circumstances, exploring themes of love, loss, and personal growth across diverse time periods and settings.

This guide is based on the 2016 Lake Union Publishing e-book version.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of racism, religious discrimination, death by suicide, graphic violence, and death.

Plot Summary

The novel begins in Florence, Italy, in 1937. Young Angelo Bianco travels to Italy from America to live with his grandparents Santino and Fabia, who live with and works for the Rosselli family. Angelo and his family are Catholic, and Angelo’s father sent him to Italy to pursue the priesthood, as his disabled leg limits his opportunities in America. Camillo Rosselli owns a successful glass-making factory, and the Rosselli family is wealthy. Angelo quickly becomes close with Camillo’s daughter Eva, and their friendship blossoms into love, but their religious differences—the Rossellis are Jewish—and Angelo’s aspirations to become a priest create an emotional barrier between them. Despite their feelings for each other, Angelo commits to his calling and leaves for seminary in Rome, while Eva remains in Florence.

As the years pass, the political climate in Italy deteriorates under Mussolini’s fascist regime. Italy allies with Germany, and the persecution of Jewish people begins with the Racial Laws. Eva’s family faces increasing restrictions and dangers. Eva, an accomplished violinist, can no longer perform publicly, and her father’s glass factory is in danger. Meanwhile, Angelo is in seminary and witnesses the rising tide of antisemitism. He begins helping an underground resistance led by the Catholic church to help Jewish people escape persecution. He partners with Aldo, a local printer, to create false identification papers. When Eva’s uncle Felix dies by suicide before he’s arrested for being Jewish, Camillo decides to go to Austria to help Felix’s father. Camillo begs Angelo to complete his ordination as a priest so that he can use the church’s protection to shield Eva and the rest of their family. This causes conflict in Angelo as he longs to protect Eva, but being close to her tempts him to disobey his vows and sin.

Camillo is arrested and taken to Auschwitz. Jewish persecution intensifies in Florence, and Angelo helps Eva escape, bringing her to Rome, where she hides in a convent. Everyone in Eva’s extended family, except Mario and Giulia Sonnino and their children, is sent away in rail cars. Eva’s false papers show that she is Angelo’s sister. Angelo becomes her protector while also arranging safe places for other Jewish people, including the Sonninos, to hide. Eva, strong-willed and unwilling to live passively, insists on helping. She joins the resistance, assisting with forged documents, and eventually is forced to take a job in a German prison working as a secretary for Captain von Essen. There she finds a stash of gold the Germans took from Jewish people, and she gives it to Angelo to help with the resistance movement. The perilous circumstances reignite the suppressed love between Eva and Angelo. Their relationship becomes a source of both strength and inner conflict, as Angelo is torn between his vow of chastity and his undeniable desire for Eva.

Captain von Essen is under increased pressure to root out the hidden Jewish people in Rome. Eva is set to meet Aldo on the street to collect forged documents, but Captain von Essen stops Aldo, forces him to drop his pants, revealing his circumcision, and shoots him in the head. Eva escapes, but Aldo’s murder devastates her and reveals the increasingly dangerous conditions in Rome. The Captain forces Eva to play the violin for a group of high-ranking Nazis, and Angelo attends. The Captain arranges for Eva to stay in a hotel, and he forces Angelo to help him raid the convent. The horror shakes Angelo’s faith in his role as a priest, and he finally surrenders to his love for Eva. They spend the night together in the hotel as Angelo breaks his vow of chastity.

Eva is recognized during one of her public violin performances, and her cover is blown. Her calculated risks in aiding the resistance lead to disaster when the Nazis discover her identity. Captain von Essen, increasingly suspicious of Angelo’s activities, uncovers their relationship. Both Angelo and Eva are arrested. Imprisoned and interrogated, Eva and Angelo refuse to betray the resistance or reveal the hiding places of other Jewish people. Even under torture and threat of execution, they refuse. Angelo is taken with three hundred other prisoners to be executed in a cave. The German soldiers refuse to kill a priest and let Angelo go into the woods. He walks all the way back to Rome to discover Eva is gone. She is on a train bound for Bergen-Belsen, a work camp in Northern Germany. She jumps from the train with a French boy named Pierre, and they hide in churches as they make their way to Belgium, where Pierre has family that can house them. Eva realizes she is pregnant and stays in Bastogne, and sends Pierre on without her.

Angelo is badly injured from being tortured, but he pledges to somehow get to the camp to rescue Eva. The Allies liberate Italy, and Angelo and Mario join the American army in hopes that it will aid them in finding and rescuing Eva. Angelo and Mario’s regiment gets pinned down in Bastogne as the German army surrounds them. Mario utilizes his medical skills to care for the wounded. A woman named Bettina needs help with a lady in labor. Mario sends Angelo to help, and he discovers the lady is Eva. He helps her give birth to their son. Angelo, Eva, and the baby return to Florence, and Mario continues serving until the war ends. Eventually, Angelo and Eva move to America with Angelo’s grandparents. They have four children, and Angelo becomes a professor of history and theology at a college.