8 September 1943. Italy has sued for peace with the Allies and 14-year-old Claudette Blum is learning Italian on the run. She and her father are among the thousands of Jewish refugees scrambling over the Alps to where they hope they will be safe at last. What they don't know is that tomorrow Italy will be under German occupation and about to become a vicious battleground between the Nazis, an increasingly confident resistance and the advancing Allies... Set against this dramatic historical backdrop, Mary Doria Russell's new novel recalls - through the lives of a handful of brilliantly-drawn characters: a mercurial Italian resistance leader, a Catholic priest, an Italian rabbi's family, a disillusioned Wehrmacht doctor - the little known conspiracy of ordinary Italians who saved the lives of thousands of Jews during the final, desperate 20 months of the war. Full of drama, warmth, nobility and, for all the darkness, hope, A THREAD OF GRACE tells a story of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times and accomplishing remarkable things. It is a breathtaking achievement.

8th September 1943, and Claudette Blum and her father are among thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing over the Alps towards Italy. For the Italians have broken with Hitler and sued for peace, and here the Blums hope to find safety at last. But overnight the Nazis seize control and the country becomes a battleground ¿ for the occupying German forces, the advancing allies, partisans, Jews in hiding and ordinary Italians simply trying to survive. Against this dramatic backdrop and through the lives of a multitude of beautifully drawn characters ¿ a mercurial resistance leader, a priest, an Italian rabbi and his family, and a disillusioned Wehrmacht doctor ¿ Mary Doria Russell tells the little-known story of those who sought refuge in Italy during the final phase of the Second World War, and of those who risked all to help them. It is a powerful, profoundly moving novel.