https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19875148-the-good-Italian
Expected publication: May 8th 2014 by Hodder & Stoughton
The Good Italian
by Stephen Burke
The Good Italian
Enzo Secchi, harbourmaster for Massawa, Eritrea's main port, is a loyal
Italian colonial servant. He takes pride in running the docks, enjoys the
occasional drink with his gregarious friend Salvatore, colonel of the local
Italian garrison, and listens to Caruso in his spare time. But he is lonely
and when Salvatore suggests he find an Eritrean housekeeper to cook, clean -
...more <
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19875148-the-good-italian#> Enzo
Secchi, harbourmaster for Massawa, Eritrea's main port, is a loyal Italian
colonial servant. He takes pride in running the docks, enjoys the
occasional drink with his gregarious friend Salvatore, colonel of the local
Italian garrison, and listens to Caruso in his spare time. But he is lonely
and when Salvatore suggests he find an Eritrean housekeeper to cook, clean
- and maybe share his bed - Enzo takes the plunge and advertises.
Salvatore's own tastes run to the young and nubile, but Enzo surprises
himself by choosing Aatifa, a sharp-tongued woman in her 30s with a
complicated family life, who takes the job as a last resort. What neither
of them had counted on was falling in love.
But it is 1935, Fascism is on the rise, and Mussolini does not intend
Eritrea to remain a backwater for long. Italian forces bent on invading
Ethiopia begin arriving at the port. And with them come new laws -
including one forbidding 'Relationships of a Conjugal Nature' with Eritrean
women . . .
Meanwhile, Salvatore finds himself at the head of the invasion force bound
for Ethiopia. Gone are the glory days of garrison life; it is a bitter
campaign, laying bare all the brutality of Italian colonial ambition. Its
consequences for Salvatore, and for Enzo and Aatifa as they contrive to
hide their relationship in plain sight, will change all three lives for
ever.(less)
Kindle Edition, 352 pages
Received on Tue Mar 18 2014 - 22:17:57 EDT