The Saltbox Olive

by Angela Antle

Through the as-yet-untold story of Newfoundland soldiers in Italy during the Second World War, The Saltbox Olive is an evocative tale of the complex interactions between past and present, told through one woman’s search for the truth of her family’s mysterious past.


Caroline Fisher sets out to solve the mystery of why her grandfather burned his brother Arch’s wartime letters. The Saltbox Olive follows the wartime route of Arch, Tombstone, Slade, and Garl, members of the 166th British Army (Newfoundland) Artillery Regiment. After surviving the battles of the Sangro and Cassino, they are all but forgotten by British HQ in the mountains between Florence and Bologna, where war loses all semblance of logic, where their loyalties are tested, and where they encounter acts of brutality, revenge, and loneliness. Weaving their stories with those of Caroline and Min Fisher, war photographer Barbara Kerr, and partisan Lucia Capponi and her son Cosimo, The Saltbox Olive explores the role of individual responsibility in wartime, how photography influences our understanding of truth, and how sins committed in times of duress as well as declarations of love can ripple outward for generations. The Saltbox Olive is about the connections of the past to the present and the conflict between the simple truths we desperately crave, and life’s complex realities.

Genres: Canada, War, Literary Fiction

264 pages, Paperback

Published June 10, 2025

Reviews

[Glenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the great pleasure to meet Angela at Writers at Woody Point last summer and so I was excited to read her novel. I love the way it is told in a mosaic of stories that all fit together. I found myself on more than a few occasions putting the book down to go look things up, )such as the Neptune fountain where water sprays out of the mermaids nipples... seriously! I had to see it to believe it).
I also love books that educate me while I read. I learned things about WWII I didn't know and about Italy.
Because each scene is so short, it kept me turning pages thinking, okay, I'll just read one more... and finished it in a couple of days.

[Ella Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible novel that follows complex stories of strangers during the war that tie together so beautifully in the end. This book is a must read.

[Samwise]

Shout out to Barbara Kerr! Favourite character of all time!

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book started off slow and confusing, everything came together and it blew me away with how well thought out and twisty it is.
There was a large cast of characters introduced at the very start, and it was difficult to understand it all, and at times it was frustrating to start a new pov.
I stuck it out, and I’m very glad I did because everything at the beginning was just amplified and came together and was shocking by the end.

The characters were each so different and although it seemed like they could never possibly relate to one another, everyone made an impact in each other’s lives. There was so much love, and resentment being passed around, but there was also comrodery that was pivotal to survival. (My heart hurt for Tombstone).
I thought the portions describing the war we well written, some parts confusing and I had to reread, but overall it read well and were interesting.

I do appreciate and loved how everything was sorted out by the end, it fulfilled me to not be left on a cliffhanger. And I was shocked by how some parts came together, I thought they’d be forgotten about or never noted again, but every little thing connected and wasn’t at all small. I was thoroughly impressed by how Antle gathered this cast of characters and their individual storylines, and merged them all so seemessly.

The writing style I thought was unique. It wasn’t overly complicated, some of the dialogue I thought was too simple, but my brain still had to adapt when reading it. The book wasn’t long either, but I felt with the amount of characters Antle could’ve written more to flesh storylines out. I would’ve loved more from certain characters.

[Monica Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the surface, Angela Antle’s The Saltbox Olive is the story of two Newfoundland brothers who, desperate to leave an abusive home (and to be part of the excitement of defeating the Nazis), volunteer to fight in the Newfoundland Regiment, and who are then deployed to England and Italy. Read a little further, though, and it becomes a portrait of the role women played in WWII, not only as nurses, but as pilots and photographers and resistance fighters, and of how the totalitarian roots of conflict then are no different than now. Imagine Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, with its anti-Fascist themes and irrepressible plot, but told by a woman: Antle’s partisan Lucia is a little bit Maria and a little bit Pilar; her female war photographer Barbara channels Lee Miller.
 
The Saltbox Olive is a dazzling, densely-woven story told in fragments. Its crisp, witty dialogue (with just a touch of the fantastic) creates the kind of muscular text one would expect from a career broadcast journalist, but is rare in a debut novel. Angela Antle is a powerful new voice in Canadian fiction, and with this work rockets to the top of a very short list of women writing authoritatively about war.

[Patsey]

While the topic interested me (Newfoundland regiment in WWII Italy) I really struggled with the structure of this book. The timeline shifts were so short and choppy I had a hard time keeping track of where the hell I was and who I was reading about. Finally in the last 50 pages it kinda came together.
Good to read on Remembrance Day though 😔

[Sarah Dunphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved loved loved!! Couldn’t put this down. Such a beautiful story, and beautifully told. ❤️

[Kim]

A beautiful piece of historical fiction set in Nfld and Italy during WWII and the present day—with vibrant characters and a nice pace. Would highly recommend!