This is a tale of immense sadness, of a continent gone crazy, of fierce resistance and passionate love. ONE GOOD THING may refer to the little boy Theo, born at the outset of this novel set in Italy. He grows and endures throughout.
In 1940, the city of Bologna was trembling. Italy enacted Racial Laws against Jewish people just as the Nazis did in Germany. We are told that Mussolini placed restrictions on Jewish people a year before Hitler marched into Poland. For Lili Passigli and her best friend at college, Esti, now married with her little boy Theo, life cannot be safe or rights taken for granted. They need to leave. Men are rounded up for forced labour and brutal treatment, seemingly just for the sake of bullying. The two young women and Esti’s child flee to a rural town, where they pass the time making fake IDs.
September 1943 was a turbulent time, with the arrest of Mussolini, after two decades in power. King Vittorio surrendered to the invading Allies, in the south, but with German troops occupying most of Italy, appropriating all the food, searching for Jewish people, nobody could relax. Soon after, paratroopers released Mussolini and he was declared in charge again in northern Italy. Resistance was led by the communist Garibaldi.
Lili shows us Florence and Rome during this later stage of the war. She has been parted from Esti, but guards Theo fiercely. She’s also gained an unexpected commitment; American Captain Thomas Driscoll who is hiding from the Nazis.
I learned a lot from this well-researched fiction by Georgia Hunter. I had previously read a Wikipedia page on Garibaldi, and just wish he’d played a part because his story is fascinating. I also knew that Vesuvius erupted during the Allied takeover of Naples. The earth itself was unquiet at this time. Like the characters, I still cannot fathom the depths of depravity of the Nazis. Even poor people had their homes looted, and the Blackshirts, the Italian Fascists, tried to keep up with the example. Bravery and quiet resistance by people like Lili meant there was a country to rebuild, and families to reunite if at all possible.
ONE GOOD THING is women’s historical fiction, and while it centres on Jewish characters, this is an impactful story for the whole community to understand. Love and life find a way home.
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