The Italian Ballerina

The book is a dual-timeline World War II novel based on the true historical account of the invented 'Syndrome K' sickness. In Rome, 1943, following the fall of Italy's Fascist government and the Nazi occupation, British ballerina Julia Bradbury is stranded and takes refuge at a hospital on Tiber Island. When she learns of the deadly, yet fake, disease known as Syndrome K, she is drawn into a conspiracy with hospital staff, friars, and two Allied medics to rescue Jewish Italians from the Holocaust by admitting them to the quarantine wards under the guise of the infectious illness. Julia risks everything to save lives, including one little Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina. In the present day, Delaney Coleman returns home after the loss of her grandfather, a beloved small-town doctor and WWII veteran. When an Italian woman claims ownership of a family heirloom, Delaney is compelled to travel to Italy, and, with the help of the woman's grandson, uncovers the truth about her grandfather’s hidden past and his heroic role in the Roman hospital that saved hundreds of Jewish people during the war. The novel explores themes of faith, forgiveness, and the heart-wrenching choices made during wartime.

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