1937: Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro are three best friends living in the heart of Rome, about to graduate and embark into adulthood. Unfortunately, nothing rocks your childhood quite like being thrust into World War II. One minute they are playing by the river, and the next they are on opposite sides. Marco and Sandro are both hopelessly in love with Elisabetta, and though their friendship can survive healthy competition, it may not survive one joining the Fascist party when the other is Jewish.

1957: Elisabetta sits with her thirteen-year-old son. It is finally time to explain who is father, his real father, is. Elisabetta knew she had to wait until he was old enough to understand and now is the time. After years of grappling with the events of her youth, she feels ready to convey the complicated and painful story to her boy.

I am not usually one for the lovey-dovey war stories, but my goodness, this one has so much HEART. The bond between Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandra is simply amazing. And on top of everything else they are all experiencing -- death of family members, job/food/housing insecurity, and so many other obstacles -- I long to have friends like that. It is their friendship that really sucks you in, making you want to know more; to learn everything about them.

I am not an emotional person, but this one had me on an emotional rollercoaster. You are feeling the highest of highs and the lowest of lows right alongside the characters. Like I said, this has so much heart. You can tell how much the author cared when writing this. This story lived in her bones for a while, until it finally poured out onto the page (incredibly well-researched and written).

I have a feeling that this will be my most memorable read of the year, or longer It grabbed me immediately. I have read a fair amount of WW2 historical fiction novels. None before have stayed with me, held me or haunted me as this one. None before had made me actually feel the pains of war, feel the prejudices of anti - semitism, feel the love of friends to this degree. It is an intense story, yet despite all the travesty, there is a happy ending.
The novel runs from 1938 to the Epilog in 1957..It takes place in and around Rome Italy during WW2 Time wise it goes through Mussolini's regime, to the Nazi Occupation adding with V-DAY.
The story follows the lives of Elisabetta, Marco and Sandro; their love and their families through the war.
I want to thank the author, Lisa Scottoline for going a different direction and writing this historical fiction. To me it is a masterpiece. I would also like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read and review this book.
The book releases on March 23, 2021.

Lisa Scottoline does it again! She is one of those authors that can turn anything into a fantastic story that you just can’t put down. This is a historical fiction set in Rome, very much not my usual genre but somehow she kept me interested from the very first page. While I’ll stick to my usual genres, any this author writes I will read and definitely enjoy- I can’t wait to see what she puts out next!

I typically enjoy Lisa Scottoline novels, but this one was very bland for me. I think I prefer her more crime-centered stories.

As a huge fan, when Lisa Scottoline, who has been regularly publishing 2-3 books a year announced she was taking a departure from everything we love and expect from her genre wise (and said we’d have to wait super long to get it!), I was more than a little leery. I wasn’t sure a historical novel, which is not my first genre of choice, could possibly justify almost two years of Scottoline withdrawals.

I should never have doubted her because Eternal was beyond worth the wait. I have fond memories of so many of her phenomenal thrillers but I now believe this is the book she was born to write. Scottoline not only managed to avoid the formulaic nature of many World War II novels we’ve seen over the last few years, but she also found a way to incorporate her signature twists and turns we know and love. Fans of thrillers and historical fiction alike are going to savor every word of this unforgettable gem. It was one of those rare books that’s so unputdownable that it absorbs you to the point where you fully lose track of time. I can’t remember the last novel that kept me up until four in the morning!

One complaint. The author’s preface mentioned that the first draft was over a thousand pages and her editors made her trim it down. I could’ve read two thousand!

I fully expect this book to be as successful as runaway bestsellers in this genre Lilac Girls and The Nightingale. I can’t wait to discuss this one with the whole world once everyone reads it!

History comes alive through this powerful story set in Rome during the late 1930s. Fascism was in full swing as Mussolini led Italy into war with England. Jews, even though Fascist were scooped up by the Nazis as hatred prevailed. This story of three childhood friends along with their families gives readers a realistic view of a horrific time in history. Based on true events, this book is hard to put down. Highly recommended!

"Eternal" is an exhilarating, sweeping novel from the beloved Lisa Scottoline - fans of "The Nightingale" and "All the Light We Cannot See" will instantly fall in love with this beautiful WWII novel. A dash of everything you want in your next favorite read with everything we have ever loved about Lisa Scottoline's writing, "Eternal" will, without a doubt, be at the top of every must-read list for 2021.

I've read many of Scottoline's other books, and I've enjoyed them. I like historical fiction, particularly WWII-era books. So, I was excited to read this one. However, it was a bit of a struggle for me.

I haven't read many in this genre that focus on life in Italy during Mussolini's time, so I appreciated that aspect of the story. The Italian verbiage and detailed descriptions added to the realism of the storyline. I generally enjoy multiple-POV stories, as I feel it gives me a greater glimpse into things. In this book, though, it made the story (and the immense number of short chapters) a bit more challenging to follow.

The book was quite "heavy," and with all that's going on in the world at this time, that, perhaps, added to the difficulty I had getting into and staying engaged with this book. I applaud the author for stepping into a new genre, but I do hope she doesn't jump ships entirely. I would be willing to give future historical reads a try even though this one didn't quite hit the mark for me.

ETERNAL
BY LISA SCOTTOLINE

Omnia vincit amor
Love conquers all things.
--Virgil

It was an honor and privilege to be approved to read the famous bestselling Author, Lisa Scottoline's labor of love called, "Eternal." I am grateful to Penguin Groups Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with my ARC of this breathtaking historical novel about the Italian Holocaust and Mussolini's twenty year rise and fall of Fascism. This epic historical novel written by Lisa Scottoline started out as an idea during her undergraduate days as an English major during which time she had the good fortune to attend a year long seminar taught by the legendary novelist, Philip Roth. This opportunity took place at the University of Pennsylvania. He introduced her to the work of Primo Levi, who wrote a memoir that its title was published in the United States called, "Survival in Auschwitz."

The setting for this beautifully written novel takes place in Rome. The architecture of the buildings descriptions were stunning and I could easily see in my mind's eye. One of the main character's that is fictional is the beautiful Elisabetta who is a waitress in one of Rome's most exclusive restaurant's brought to life many mouth watering Italian home-made pasta dishes. My oldest son always wanted to go to Italy and after reading this I have decided that he and I must go there together for the history and the food. The back drop of this story is the Italian Holocaust and another main character is an Italian Jewish boy named Sandro. His father was a tax attorney and his mother was a doctor. Sandro, Elisabetta and Marco are all best friends and they all love each other.

Sandro is fictional as well as Marco but they represent the strong love of each other as brother's. They both love Elisabetta and she vacillates as a sweet young girl who loves both of them at the same time while they are young but ultimately chooses one of them. Her mother Serafina abandons her leaving her to take care of her father who has had all of his finger's broken because as a former artist he painted over some fascist words. Sandro is the first to kiss Elisabetta and knows he wants to marry her but his parent's don't approve because they want him to marry an Italian Jewish girl and they want Jewish grandchildren. Marco also loves Elisabetta and he is the youngest of three boy's in his family. His father had an affair with her mother so his oldest brother who is a priest at the Vatican confirms that the rumor is true and Marco is also told by his oldest brother that he can never marry Elisabetta either. So there is a love triangle between the three but there is also true historical facts that really happened in Rome.

Sandro is a mathematician prodigy who plans to study with the factual Levi-Cevita, who was a real life mathematician known as the "Einstein of Italy," is the first to be affected by the new Race Laws. These new Race Law's strip the Italian Jewish people of their rights to be able to attend their schools in Rome. Sandro's dream of studying with Levi-Cevita can no longer happen. His father loses his ability to practice law and his mother can no longer be a physician at the hospital. They along with other Italian Jewish families lose their homes, vocations, and many other things because Mussolini is aligning himself with Hitler.

Article 4
"Those members of scientific, literary, and artistic academics, institutes, and
and associations who are the Jewish race will cease to be part of said institutions
beginning on October 16, 1938."

"Italian citizens who according to the laws, are considered as belonging to the
Jewish race are excluded from the PNF, the Partito Nazionale Fascista."

Mussolini and the Fascists are proclaiming these new Race Law's which discriminate against the Italian Jew's like Sandro and his family stripping away their rights even before Mussolini enters World War II. He had the option of joining with Great Britain but ultimately chose to align himself with Hitler and Germany. Marco works with the Fascist government for a time. His brother Aldo is secretly working with the resistance or anti Fascists trying to disrupt the Mussolini Government.

In the beginning of this novel Lisa Scottoline provides a map and a list of each of the three families and other character's but I didn't find it necessary because I got to know each character intimately. This is an epic historical novel. While the three main character's are fictional they are a powerful triangle of love. There are many scenes and secondary character's that are factual. During the Nazi Occupation of Rome they really did extort an impossible amount of gold from the Italian Jewish citizens which they met or else two hundred Jewish citizens were going to be deported to concentration camps. The physician of the hospital really did save the Italian Jewish patients from being seized by the Nazi's by tricking them that they could be infected by the deadly virus Syndrome K which was just a ruse but named after Nazi Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.

I haven't read any of Lisa Scottoline's previous work. She is a best selling Author of approximately 32 novels of fiction and 9 non-fiction books. I can tell that this might be her most meaningful novel that she has admitted saying she wanted to write since her writing career began. I absolutely loved this one named, "Eternal." What I loved about it is that this is the first Holocaust novel that I have read in a long time that doesn't take place in France or Germany. I did read a good one that is under rated that ends up taking place in Denmark which the title changed on publication called, "The German Girl." We have the wonderful "Lilac Girls," "All the Light We Cannot See," now with this one called, "Eternal," taking place in Rome, it is also Unforgettable and a must read by a talented, bestselling author. I highly, highly recommend this and can truly attest that this one is unique, heartbreaking and life affirming and a favorite that I am so happy to have read.

Publication Date: March 23, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Lisa Scottoline and Penguin Group Putnam--G.P. Putnam's Sons for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#Eternal #LisaScottoline #PenguinGroupPutnamGPPutnam'sSons #NetGalley

Marco and Elizabetta and Sandro have grown up in Rome and, day by day, they see their world changing. The boys both love Betta, first as friends, then close friends, then looking to the future. "Italy is a country of passion and emotion, as gloriously turbulent as the human heart. Italian hearts fight and love with equal intensity."

Marco 's family owns and operates the Bar GiroSport, a popular watering hole.

Elizabetta works in her family's Italian restaurant, waitresing and learning about food from her Nonna.

Sandro and his family are observant Jews. They live in an area called *the geto* [I did not realize that the word geto, meaning a part of the city in which members of a minority population gather and live, has been used in Italy since the early 1500's]

This is Rome under Mussolini during WWII, and then under the Nazis when Mussolini is deposed. Fascists and Nazis bring hate and fear and laws that injustice. Race Laws are implemented. Race Laws similar to those in Germany gradually affect Sandro's family, but also influence friends, customers, neighbors, families.

This account of Italy, up and down the peninsula, showed me another heartbreaking side of war. Houses destroyed, windows broken, lives lost, books burned, priceless rare books and synagogue records gone forever.

"War is eternal, but so is peace.
Death is eternal, but so is life.
Darkness is eternal, but so is light.
Hate is eternal but, thankfully, so is love."
-Lisa Scottoline

I read this EARC courtesy of NetGalley and Penguin Books. pub date 03/22/21

Ever since she took a literature seminar with Philip Roth as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania - in which she was introduced to the work of Italian-Jewish Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi - Lisa Scottoline has wanted to writer this novel, set in the Eternal City during the ventennio (1922-1943), the twenty years of Mussolini’s rise and fall. It is May, 1937, and Elisabetta, 15, who wants to be an artist and writer, is torn between who to give her first kiss: the handsome, athletic, and charming Marco, or the tall, thoughtful, Jewish intellectual Sandro. But soon the three best friends’ problems spiral out of control, as Elisabetta’s mother disappears and Elisabetta has to leave school to support her alcoholic father, Marco is torn by his father’s fascist leanings, and Sandro and his family’s lives change radically as Mussolini supports Hitler and his treatment of the Jews. From Roth, Scottoline learned the value of careful research as well as literary mastery, and she has researched this book in the years since then, during which she wrote over 30 best-selling legal thrillers and, with her daughter Francesca Serritelli, essays and memoirs. “Everything I’ve ever written, whether series, standalone fiction, or nonfiction, has explored the themes of family, justice, and love, and Eternal is the culmination of a lifetime of my work….I hope you find "Eternal" an emotional and vividly dramatic story of three people, set in one of the most glorious cities in the world, against the most turbulent of times….[and] that you ponder the questions about law and justice that it raises.”

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book! I love Lisa Scottoline and all her wonderful strong female characters, but this change of pace into historical fiction was a masterpiece! I will long remember this book and it stands out with the other “bests” of this type. The Nightingale and All the Light We Can Not See took place in France, The Lilac Girls was set in Poland, and now we have Eternal from France. Grazie!!! I love Adriane Trigiani’s books and if I closed my eyes, I might have guessed she was the author. That’s a compliment to both these wonderful storytellers!!

Each time I see a World War II story I think, no, not again. I have read so many good ones. But the author of this one and the plot summary drew me in. Turned out to be a good choice. Different perspective of the war from the Italian experience and from the Italian Jewish experience. The combined stories of three friends in alternate chapters propelled the emotional involvement of the reader. Bravo!

Ms. Scottoline’s latest, a new genre for her, is an atmospheric journey into WWII Rome. Three teenage friends embark on a journey of love, loss, despair and gratitude. Their families are tethered by cultural and religious tradition and a deep love of Italy, as the horrific Nazi regime arrives upon their doorstep. I found the characters to be well drawn and the setting descriptions, picturesque.. However, the dialogue rang flat and disjointed and I longed for an additional dimension of time or place. My comments are limited to the publishers view only, as I choose not to share a less-than-4 star review out of respect for the author.
Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

What I look for in historical fiction is authenticity and character development. This book delivers both. It is set in Rome during Fascism and World War II. Through the characters, the author sets the complicated tone of a city comprised of people who followed the doctrine and people who resisted but who still found their own truths as events unfurled. The author writes about events in Italy during the war that are probably unknown to many readers.

It is not an easy story, but Italy was not in an easy place during WWII. The book tells the story of two Jewish and the Gentile families who lived, loved, and worked together, until their own government forced them apart.

My only criticism of the story is that it sometimes drags. There is a lot to talk about, and I would recommend it for book clubs.

Rome the Eternal City, it's beauty, past glory and history marking it as a world center. It is 1937 when we come upon this city and its inhabitants. Three such protagonists...Elisabetta, Marco and Sandro are three childhood friends having grown up together. Yet it is more than that, as now in their teen years, both Marco and Sandro are in love with her, both vying for her love. Elisabetta has dreams of a career in writing, Marco comes from a family of professional cyclists and Sandro a Jewish mathematics genius, coming from a family whose mother is a doctor and father a lawyer. With a bright future ahead of them, we are about to witness the beginning of WWII as fascism has taken hold of the country. With Mussolini embracing Hitler, the story that unfolds for these three is no fairytale. Love may conquer all, but at the moment the Fascists and the Nazis are the ones that hold the fate not only of three friends but millions of people.

As we go forward we see Marco's brother Aldo shot as an anti-fascist. We see Marco align himself with the Fascists, not believing his brother was involved with those against him. We see Sandro being forced out of school as new laws and rules involving Jewish people are now being mandated. Families, such as Sandro's finding this incredible, as they consider themselves Italian first, all the while as they struggle to hold their families together. For Elisabetta, she is now alone as her mother left her family and her father drank himself to death. In 1943 the Nazis took over and the Fascists were no longer in power.

This was an emotional story, and even though you have read WWII stories before, you have never read one such as this. Textbooks cannot give you the human element, they cover the basics. In this novel, we see the toll exacted on these three friends as their friendship was tested. We watch, as the Jews in the Ghetto had to struggle just to exist and we learn and "witness" many obstacles that each new day brought, that managed to dehumanize them. Love, loyalty, loss, friendship, hate and cruelty...all heartbreaking.

This book is amazing, the reality that this actually happened is mind boggling. I picked up this book and read it in two days, not wanting to put it down. This story will stay with me for quite a while...I will have to wait a bit before I take up another book to read. Eccellente!!! Brava Ms.Scottoline!

My thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed on my blog https://bookreviewsbylulu.blogspot.com/ on February 5, 2021
Reviewed on Goodreads on February 5, 2021

I was lucky enough to win an electronic ARC of ETERNAL in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the opportunity! Stay safe!

I just finished Lisa Scottoline’s new novel Eternal. If you enjoy WWII historical fiction, you won’t want to miss this one. Having read many WWII novels, I was intrigued by the story being told from the viewpoint of the Roman Jews. I didn’t even realize that the Italians enacted Race Laws during the war. One of my favorite quotes from the book was “Life is trade-offs."

ETERNAL
5/5 Stars

LISA YOU HAVE DONE IT AGAIN! BRAVO!!!!

For her first historical fiction, we are transported to Rome during the beginnings of World War II. We follow Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro, childhood best friends with differences often discarded. As Mussolini comes to power and war moves into Italy, the trio are forced into a test neither one of them could have every anticipated. Now, let me tell you when I say I cried a lot, I CRIED A LOT! I really became to feel for all of the characters! This beautiful novel sweeps over decades and tells a story of friendship, family, love, war and in the Italian way - food!

I’ve adored Lisa’s books over the years, but this one just sits differently with me. Having met Lisa a few times and learning from her how she writes, it makes it even more enjoyable. Her writing is just impeccable, and you can truly visualise everything she is describing. It was almost as if I was living in Roma! Even better is the fact that Lisa finds a way to educate the readers on Italy and how Mussolini influenced the country during such a crazy period. I want to applaud her, especially as I am a historian, in a job well done! It is truly spectacular to read and I highly recommend it when it is released on the 26th of March!

This was an exceptional historic fiction book and my first Lisa Scottoline! I will definitely pick up more from her in the future.