Ciao Bella by Hassan & John Rinaldo

Ciao Bella is a deeply personal journey through family, memory, World War II, and the search for a truth that has been hidden for more than eighty years.

Two grandsons from different families return to the Veneto region of Northern Italy and the foothills of Mount Grappa, carrying stories passed down through generations—stories of resistance, courage, survival, and ordinary people forced to make extraordinary choices during the Nazi occupation. But as Hassan and John begin comparing family memories with recorded history, they discover that the past is rarely as simple as the stories we inherit.

Their search takes them along mountain trails, through villages and archives, and into conversations with historians and local families as they attempt to separate memory from myth and myth from documented history. Some questions may finally be answered. Others may lead to entirely new mysteries.

But Ciao Bella is about more than uncovering what happened during the war. It is about discovering who our grandparents were before they became our grandparents, understanding the choices that allowed future generations to exist, and confronting what can disappear when family stories are no longer told.

Perfect for readers drawn to World War II history, Italy, family history, genealogy, resistance stories, historical mysteries, travel memoirs, and intergenerational storytelling, Ciao Bella asks a powerful question: What happens when two grandsons return to the places their grandparents once walked—not simply to tell their history, but to find it?

— John Rinaldo, The Positive Pen