Rose and Renzo – A Sunday Times Historical Fiction Pick of the Month

Manchester 1936 – Fascism looms in Europe, and Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts are on the rise.

After the death of their father, two sisters arrive in Manchester’s vibrant ‘Little Italy’: creative misfit, Rose and her much older sister, Ivy. Fearful of Rose’s impulsiveness, Ivy seeks to control Rose, forcing her to give up her cherished place at art school.

Desperate to pursue her passion, Rose meets Renzo, a painter arrived from Europe. Their connection is instant and powerful. Yet as their feelings deepen, Renzo’s past in Mussolini’s Italy remains a mystery.

As Blackshirts march across the city, Rose is drawn to the fight against fascism, even as she’s compelled to face the devastating question – just which side is Renzo on?

Carolyn O’Brien is an historical fiction writer from Manchester. Her writing has a strong sense of the north-west of England and its radical past, as illustrated by her first novel The Song of Peterloo published by Legend Press in 2019 to coincide with the Peterloo Massacre bicentenary.

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