A plan to flood her valley. A means to destroy her culture. 1920, former Austrian Tyrol. Katharina Thaler faces becoming the first woman to ever own a farm in the Reschen Valley. The end of the Great War has taken more than her beloved family, it has robbed the province of its autonomy and severed it in half. As her countrymen fight to prevent the annexation to Italy, Katharina finds a wounded … Katharina finds a wounded Italian engineer on her mountain. Her decision to save Angelo Grimani’s life, however, thrusts both into the midst of a new world order—a labyrinth of corruption, prejudice, and greed.
Trapped between a growing fascist regime and a man who threatens to tear her home away, Katharina must decide what to protect: love or country?
No Man’s Land is the first book in the Reschen Valley historical fiction series. If you enjoy gripping, historical fiction that will stay long after you’ve read the last chapter, you will love Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger’s vivid saga.
“An authentic, rich story.” Laurel Busch, historical fiction editor and author
“Well-executed…powerful…moved me to my core.” Ann Howard Creel, The Whiskey Sea
”…vivid and intriguing…will have you mesmerized from page one.” Kristi Saare Duarte, The Transmigrant
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If you love riveting, meticulously researched historical fiction, you’ll love “No Man’s Land.” First thing I’d like to mention is that I instantly felt connected with the main heroine, Katharina. She’s everything I always look for in a protagonist – strong and self-sufficient despite living in a very patriarchal, male-dominated Tyrolean community. Her devotion to her land and desire to improve it even in view of a highly unfavorable political situation (we’re talking post-WWI Italian occupation of the area) made me respect her even more. Reschen Valley itself – its culture, traditions, and lifestyle – is described with such authenticity that I could only applaud the author for her detailed research. What I also enjoyed was how both sides, the Austrians and the Italians, were presented in this novel. The tension between the occupying forces and the local population, the rising of the fascist movement in Italy, the greed and corruption of certain profiteers (I’m talking about Angelo’s father here) – all this makes “No Man’s Land” a truly epic saga. And of course, there’s a love story, both beautiful and devastating, but I won’t give away any more spoilers here. Read it – you won’t regret it, I promise. I’ll definitely be continuing with the series!
I loved the audiobook, the narrator Christine Schneider has a wonderful soothing voice and does an outstanding job with all the character voices. In the beginning when Angelo spoke in Italian, I was glad I knew what he was saying. My Nonno was a Carabinieri, and hearing about them had me think of him. I googled, read and saw the beautiful photos of the Reschen Pass, it is amazing. Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger worked hard in researching and bringing her vision to life. She has done a fantastic job in this first book of a major saga. I will be continuing with this series and read the following 5 books to see how it ends, it is a must do.
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger presents an engaging and well-written historical fiction novel. Set in the 1920s, life in the Tyrol is hard. After World War I, the Austrian borders were redrawn and the Tyrol is “gifted” to Italy. Populism is rising in Italy, and the politicians and bureaucrats want to redefine the Tyroleans as Italians. The people was forced to Latinize their names, learn Italian, and burgeoning power companies want to flood their land to use to produce electricity to power much of Northern Italy. She has meticulously researched the era and the company, and she gives the tastes, sights and smells of the Austrian Tyrol as well as the history. I have traveled in Italy’s Alto Adige and had no idea I was missing so much of its history and culture.
The story feels very unique to me. The backdrop is fascinating and there is so much insight into the characters it is as though you are reading it from their POVs but the beauty and the craftsmanship of Lucyk-Berger is that it is all in the writing and the third person narrative. There is a bit of a theatrical almost Chekovian feel which I rather enjoyed where the author will at times hint at things without coming out and directly saying them. Those subtleties are like gold to a reader. And I am in awe how the author is able to take a time period and a setting that I know so little about and thrust me right into the middle of it. And instead of turning me off because of its unfamiliarity the language is intriguing to me and I find myself needing to keep reading. The first line “It seemed ashamed to kill on such a fine, spring day.” told me this was a must read and I wasn’t able to put it down. Lucyk-Berger strikes a nice balance of setting the scene and then inserting what on the surface could seem like casual dialogue but is often loaded with subtext. I am so glad I heard about this author and am definitely looking forward to continuing on with the series.
Engaging from the very first page
No Man’s Land brings the reader to the land rarely visited by novelists – Austrian Tyrol, which after the WWI is not Austrian at all. Annexed by Italy, the land and people are now facing the harsh reality (I’m not going to give spoilers here).
In her flowing narrative and with the beautiful, descriptive language the author engages the reader with Katharina, the main character, and other people both Tiroleans and Italians. The conflict is palpable; the stakes are high; the future doesn’t seem bright. Katharina’s confused relationship first with Angelo and then with Florian was so touching, I couldn’t wait to see how these complicated relationships would develop. As a reader, I felt as though I was alongside with them all along their difficult journey (which I’m going to continue through the following books of the series).
Compiled with attention to details, the author presents a meticulously researched historical background.
I highly recommend this story, which I’m sure will captivate you from beginning to end.
I enjoyed this book, and was thankful I had read “The Smuggler of Reschen Valley” first. Although it is not essential, it does provide a depth to the story. Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger does a fantastic job of writing in a way that visualizing the scenes and characters is very easy to do. Katharina is searching for her place, and some security. Due to inheritance laws, she is kind of left in No-Man’s Land…. I am a little late writing this review because I went on to read the rest of the books in this series. I learned a lot about the history of this area and am glad I found this author and these books.
in Arlund, people life is strong, slow, but a big news after war will transform them.
in Bolzano you can touch the air of fear, revolution, military ordung, discrimation, strategy and politic projects.
but the book is also a romantic story, I suggest you to read it, you’ll love it.
Very interesting historical fiction. I had never heard of the circumstances the Tyroleans had to confront after they were annexed to Italy.