It is ten years since her husband, Luigi Berotti, a
loyal "Blackshirt" of the Fascist regime, was shot to
death. His assailant has never been identified or
apprehended. Isabella, then 19 and pregnant, was also shot
in the back but recovered except for scars and a limp. As she
sits in the coffee shop remembering, a woman about her age
with a little girl approaches her table. The woman asks
Isabella to watch her daughter, Rosa, 9, for a few
moments. When Isabella hesitates, the woman tells her, "I
know who killed your bastard husband," and points an accusing
finger at the Fascist Party Headquarters. She hurries
away, climbs to the top of the clock tower and jumps to her
death. Rosa is sent to a convent and Roberto Falco meets
Isabella while taking pictures of the dead woman.
Roberto, the handsome and mysterious propaganda
photographer for Il Duce, works hard to show the glory of the country that
Mussolini is creating through his photographs. He is a man of secrets
and is hiding many about his past life. He joins Isabella
in her search for the truth about Luigi's murder and
together they face danger at every turn. Their
relationship grows and Roberto, in his quiet but steady
manner, teaches Isabella to love again.
THE ITALIAN WIFE is a sweeping saga of discovery, courage
and love during the regime of Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, as
he leads the Fascist regime in Italy. He has a master plan
to build five superior towns to provide employment and
farms on the Pontine Marshes. Bellina, outside Rome, is
his first proposed town. Isabella, the only woman
architect working on the team, has to prove herself and
throws herself into his scheme working endless hours. Work
is the only thing that helps her forget painful memories of
Luigi.
I enjoyed this well-researched piece of history. I
learned many interesting facts, especially about the
Pontine Marshes and how they drained that malarial swamp,
replacing them with new towns on the reclaimed land. The grandiose
architecture, rigidly designed living accommodations, the
cruelty of the nuns from the convent, the ruthlessness of
the "Blackshirts," the treachery and the complex
personality of Mussolini, the land and the people all come
alive with the vivid descriptions. This is a page turner
to delight, bringing the sights and sounds of Italy in the
1930's. A job well done by Kate Furnivall. You have a
new fan and my thanks!
The New York Times bestselling author of The
Russian Concubine returns with a stunning new novel set
in Mussolini’s Italy.
Isabella Berotti is an architect, helping to create
showpieces that will reflect the glory of her country’s
Fascist leaders. She is not a deeply political sort, but
designing these buildings of grandiose beauty helps her
forget about the pain she’s felt since her husband was
murdered years ago. One of her greatest accomplishments is
the clock tower in the town of Bellina, outside Rome.
But as she is admiring it one day, a woman approaches her,
asking her to watch her ten-year-old daughter. Minutes
later, to Isabella’s horror, the woman leaps to her death
from that very clock tower.
There are photos of the woman right after the suicide, taken
by Roberto Falco. A propaganda photographer for Il
Duce, he is expected to show his nation in the most
flattering light. But what Roberto and Isabella have seen
reflects a more brutal reality, and in a place where
everyone is watching and friends turn on friends to save
themselves, their decision to take a closer look may be a
dangerous mistake.
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