Eternal by Lisa Scottoline

      I always gravitate toward reading historical fiction.  I have always been interested in the history of different cultures, and reading about characters living through those past events are a bonus.  I chose to read Eternal because it was set in Italy during the Fascist Regime of Mussolini, something I didn’t know a lot about.

    The novel follows the lives of three very close friends, beginning in their teenage years, all from different backgrounds.  Elizabetta lives with a liberal father, once a painter, now a helpless alcoholic.  The father is very anti-fascist in his political views.  Elizabwetta’s handsome and athletic friend Marco, lives with a family who runs a bar.  His father is very pro-fascist and supports Mussolini.  The third in the trio of friends is Sandro, son of Jewish parents, with a father who is a prominent lawyer and his mother who is a physician.  Surprisingly, even through they are Jewish, they also support Mussolini, at least they did until his actions against the Jews began.

    Marco and Sandro, although the closest of friends, are slowly falling  in love with Elizabetta. 

    As the story evolves, Elizabetta’s mother abandons the family, because of the alcoholic father.  Young Marco is given a job as a messenger for a high ranking Fascist army officer, and Sandro gets a scholarship to study under a prominent mathematician. Things gradually become more difficult and strained for Sandro and his family when Mussolini, under the influence of Hitler, starts restricting Jews.  This action resulted in both his father and mother losing their jobs, even though both worked in important fields to the government.

    Marco’s status rises working for the fascists as his boss’s position rises in the party.  However, Marco’s status becomes somewhat jeopardized when his older brother is caught in an antifascist underground group and is killed.

    Things become increasingly dire for Sandro and his parents as Mussolini falls more under Hitler’s influence.  Without employment, they lose their home and are forced to live in a tiny apartment.   Eventually, they are rounded up with the other Jews to be sent to a camp.

    The plot is full of twists and struggles as situations change as the forces of history fall upon the three friends, and the dynamics of their friendships changes.  

    I learned a lot of Italian history from the novel and the storyline kept me turning pages until the end.  

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca