Liberation
A world war ii thriller of love, compassion, courage, leadership and redemption
Kindle available
On December 8th, 2021, USA TODAY reported that "Liberation," by Emilio Iodice reached its Bestseller List.
Liberation by Emilio Iodice was inspired by actual events during World War II relating to the freeing of fascist Italy. It is a work of fiction, based on facts. As a boy growing up in an Italian section of the South Bronx, Emilio sat around family tables listening to stories about the adventures of young people, immigrants, Italy, and, most of all, World War II. Scenes became real as he listened to heroes and heroines nonchalantly relate incredible acts of bravery as if part of daily life. He painstakingly checked and corroborated each story by speaking with those who lived and participated in the events, uncovering details that added drama and love.
He swore to keep their names and accounts secret and to tell them in the form of fiction, only after their passing — and kept that promise. The champions of this story survived by love, suffering, bravery, compassion, fearless leadership, and deliverance from fear and injustice, all performed in the shadows of secrecy.
This book is a tribute to the “Unknown Warriors” who freed us from the shackles of evil oppression and fought the devils of hellish bigotry, cruelty, and arrogance — and asked for nothing in return. Their sacrifices should inspire us to fight the fiends of intolerance today before they overcome us.
On December 8th, 2021, USA TODAY reported that "Liberation," by Emilio Iodice reached its Bestseller List.
One of the top achievements for an author is hitting the USA Today best-seller list. It's considered a noteworthy accomplishment because it ranks best-selling books based on sales, not editorial preferences, and only 150 top-selling books are featured every week, among millions of books available for purchase.
A look inside Liberation
Emilio Iodice writes a novel inspired by true stories. None of the characters are entirely fictional. Almost all that occurred happened in real life. To turn history into a novel, he felt compelled to dramatize and invent some personal details and events. The tales begin at the same time, intertwine throughout the book and come together at the end.
Our story opens at a passenger gate at Kennedy Airport in 1971. Three families meet. They are on the same flight to Rome. They discover something uncanny. All are bound by World War II in a dramatic saga, captivating and surreal. Each is tied to a priest, Don Lorenzo, and an island, Ponza.
They reminisce about what happened and our narrative unfolds.
It begins in New York City during the War. Silverio is an Italian immigrant working on the docks, loading ammunition into ships bound for Europe and Japan. He receives a letter from a prisoner of war camp in Mississippi.
It contains two notes.
One is from his cousin, who was captured in North Africa. He asks Silverio to visit him. The second is from the Commandant of the base. He pleads for Silverio to come. It is urgent. It is also dangerous. Lucia, his wife and his family and friends try to convince Silverio not to go. He feels it is a mission he must do for America and Italy.
He and his cousin Antonio drive a thousand miles into the heart of the American South. They face four deadly challenges.
Racist policemen in Tennessee arrest and torture them.
A pack of man-eating wolves attack their car in a forest near the camp.
They see a cross in lights in the wilderness. It is a church. A black pastor takes them in. The next night, the Ku Klux Klan attack the house of worship. Their mission: to lynch the pastor and kill the Italians. Silverio and Antonio confront these ghostly figures, mounted on horses, wearing white outfits with red crosses, brandishing fiery bottles of gasoline, bullwhips, pistols, and shotguns.
Silverio’s final test is to convince his cousin, leader of the Italian prisoners, not to join the Nazis who have dug a tunnel and are planning a bold escape from the camp.
While Silverio and Antonio go through these adventures, another story is happening in Wheeling West Virginia. A love affair begins between Carlo and Helena, a beautiful girl whose parents come from the same hometown in Italy as the man she loves. He is an Italian soldier and a prisoner in an American camp in Alabama. He is allowed to visit his brother, Luigi. It is there he meets Helena.
To consummate their love they face tremendous obstacles including their own fears.
As the stories of Silverio, Carlo and Helena move forward another dramatic tale is going on.
In a secret place near Washington, DC, brothers, Joe and Tom, whose parents come from Ponza, train to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). They are to aide partisans during the invasion of Italy. The men learn communications, sabotage, the use of explosives, and how to murder silently and efficiently. They undertake one daring mission after another until they are able to reach the Fifth Army that has invaded Italy. Then, along with Don Lorenzo and valiant freedom fighters, they save ten Jewish families before the Gestapo can send them to Auschwitz.
Unbeknownst to them, Joe and Tom become heroic figures of liberation of Italy. They fight alongside brave men and women, and, in particular, a girl who is a spy for the OSS in Gestapo headquarters in Rome.
The story ends, where it began. The three families land in the Eternal City. They are met by Don Lorenzo, the man who they all have in common. He was related to Silverio and Lucia and worked with Tom and Joe during the war.