The Jewish husband

The story is told from the point of view of a man, Dino, writing to a son, Michele, whom he hasn’t seen for years, from Israel, after WWII. Dino wants Michele to understand how their lives were shaped and so he describes his life in Italy with his son’s mother, a woman whom he loved a great deal. Dino was a teacher and a Jew who marked the major Jewish holidays for the sake of his family but not much else. He fell in love with a good Catholic girl, Sonia, whose parents are wealthy, shallow, prejudiced and fascist sympathizers. Sonia’s parents in particular were not enthused with the prospective marriage, but objections were overcome, the two marred and have a son. All seemed to be well, but slowly their lives started to unravel as show more the anti-Jewish laws forced Dino out of his job, increasingly restricted his life, and even forced his parents to sell their successful hotel (which Dino thought would be his fallback after losing his teaching profession) to an employee before they would lose everything.

As Dino puts it: “I am talking about the others, those who cheered the Fascists on, while we few managed to glimpse the invisible and insidious web that seemed to be slowly covering our everyday lives, while a faint haze of the ridiculous descended over everything, a ridiculous that gradually turned into something grotesque. “

As a “half-Jew” Michele would have all avenues closed to him for education or in a profession, so Sonia’s family hatches a scheme whereby Dino and Sonia annul their marriage, Dino effectively admits to not being the father of his son, Sonia marries a family friend (who is, or was, also a friend of Dino), Dino and Sonia start to live separately. For a while they continue to see each other surreptitiously, but more and more they have less and less in common and the relationship spirals downward to the point where Dino simply leaves and goes to Palestine to start a new life, a life he manages to entice his parents to share and so they escape while other members of the family are arrested and shipped off to Auschwitz.

The story is well told. I don’t think it is on a par with The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, but it does illustrate how political regimes and fads and currents disrupt and destroy ordinary lives, how people struggle to stay alive, and the sacrifices they will make for those they love. show less

YThe jewish Husband moves slowly, but the prose is intense within many of the pages, more so during the last half of the book. I attribute the slowness to the fact that the book is written as a series of letters, and Dino is trying to tell his story in an exact manner. There are predictable moments, yet, for some readers, there might be one or two surprises within the story line. Levi writes with forthrightness and vivid imagery, as she tries to inflect how daily life played out during a tumultuous time period. She is sensitive to the issues of romance under adverse conditions, playing the fascist mindset against the Jews, and interjecting the conflicts of a Jewish-Catholic marriage under those circumstances.

There isn’t much written show more about fascism in Italy, and Levi puts a distinct face on the subject. She gives the reader much to ponder regarding the oppression of the Jews, within the confines of the Italian ghettos and within Italian society as a whole. She writes with clarity and cognizance regarding the daily restrictions placed upon the Jews in Italy during the fascist regime. The Jewish Husband is educational in that respect. I applaud Lia Levi for the historical information she infuses within the pages, and for that aspect, I recommend The Jewish Husband. show less

It took me a little while to get into this one however I'm glad I stuck with it. It was a thought-provoking and compelling novel about a Jewish-Italian teacher who falls in love with a privileged Catholic woman in the 1930s and the consequences of the compromises/sacrifices he makes so that they can marry.

The Jewish Husband by Lia Levi
Europa Editions
The cover of the book is evocative of a beautiful and graceful Sophia Loren--I loved It!

What a wonderful surprise this book was! I've read many stories about WWII and the holocaust but not one about what life was like during Facist Italy. Dino Carpi, now David Katz and living in Israel, is writing a letter to his son, Michele. A letter to try to explain his abandonment of his family before WWII sweeps throughout Europe. A story of love for Sonia and the humiliations suffered for that love. Being Jewish, loving a gentile and living in Italy during the reign of Mussolini was frightening but Lia Levi tells us a fascinating story of love, loss and heartbreak.

The story moves slowly, in fact I was speed reading this novel ( don't usually do it) to get to the "good parts" ( in other words too much posturing and exposition). Story is an important and reveals the impact of Mussolini's racial laws on Jewish community during WW2. Maybe even more important is the "bella figure" syndrome intertwined into Italian culture that allowed a family to more-or-less wipe out the Jewishness in their upper class family.

This one kind of crept on me. It is quietly told but gathers force as the story mvoes to the ultimate conclusion-rahter like watching a wave break on shore.

I hope more books by this author are translated.

L'Albergo della Magnolia è un romanzo subdolo: inizia con un tono lieve, leggero, quasi frivolo. Ti fa quasi dubitare del suo valore letterario e ti fa pensare che sia solo la solita storia d'amore travolta dagli eventi storici.

In realtà, l'autrice tesse intorno ai suoi lettori una rete di inconsapevolezza simile a quella che avvolge Dino, il protagonista, ebreo, che vuole sposare una ragazza di buona famiglia, cattolica e benestante. Siamo nel periodo fascista e gli ostacoli a un'unione del genere sembrano insormontabili: tuttavia, con tenacia, il protagonista riesce a superarli e a sposare la sua bellissima Sonia Gentile.

Sembra non rendersi conto, però, che la sua non è affatto una vittoria: non è affatto riuscito a entrare nella show more famiglia di Sonia. Di fatto viene a malapena tollerato, come un cane rognoso che venga sopportato solo perché la bambina lo trova incomprensibilmente carino.

Ma l'aspetto peggiore è che Dino è disposto a perdere la propria dignità per diventare uno di famiglia, per essere amato e stimato come meriterebbero la sua cultura e la sua intelligenza, indiscutibilmente superiori a quelle dei membri della famiglia Gentile, appiattiti in una comoda visione del mondo borghese.

E quando il dramma delle leggi razziali si abbatterà su di lui, innescando una serie di eventi che, con il senno del poi, parevano inevitabili, Dino non potrà far altro che arrendersi alle logiche della famiglia Gentile. show less