First published 2021
Elisabetta dreams of writing novels while growing up in Rome with her two closest friends. Marco comes from a cycling family and loves competition. Sandro, a brilliant mathematician from a Jewish family of professionals, approaches life with quiet thoughtfulness. Both boys fall for Elisabetta as they reach adulthood in 1937. Then Mussolini begins aligning Italy with Hitler's Germany. New laws target Jewish citizens. The friends watch their city transform as fascist ideology takes hold. When World War II arrives, German forces occupy Rome. The Nazi presence brings fresh horrors for Jewish families like Sandro's. The three friends face impossible choices as their world collapses around them. Their families suffer. Their neighborhood changes. Their bonds strain under pressure they never imagined possible. One devastating act of betrayal will alter their lives forever. The story follows their intertwined destinies across decades of war and its aftermath, exploring how ordinary people survive extraordinary cruelty in one of history's most beautiful cities during its most terrible period.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, friends-to-lovers
Setting: Rome, Italy, Germany
Period: 1937, World War II
480 pages · Hardcover · Putnam
Content warnings: violence, war