This is one of those interesting little novels that make the best of/notable lists at years end. Esmond Lowndes is banished to Florence in 1937 for being caught at Oxford in bed his with buddy. His dad is the fictional number two to Oswald Mosley in the British Union of Fascists. Esmond is sent to the continent to establish a radio station for English speaking right wingers. While there, he observes Europe's slow descent into the abyss and, after it starts, he tries to fend for his Jewish assistant, Ada, with whom he has fallen in love. With little enthusiasm, he continues his Fascist broadcasts, thus avoiding internment. Facing expulsion, Esmond and Ada seclude themselves in a villa in the country, doing occasional jobs for the resistance. In the summer of 1943, Italy withdraws from the war, Ada is pregnant and the world is full of hope. That hope is quickly shattered when Germany occupies Florence in August. As the Germans and Italian Fascists escalate their attacks on the leftists and the Jews, the resistance matches their violence. Soon, assassinations, bombings and raids are the reaction to each train to the north. Esmond loses Ada to the Nazis, and immediately thereafter killing becomes easy, second nature. Captured and tortured, he manages to propel himself and Carita, the obnoxious fascist oppressor of Florence, out a window to their death. This is a well-written, craftily created tale that provides a bit of insight into the German occupation of northern Italy after Italy surrendered. As I've intimated recently, I don't do well with WW2 novels, perhaps because the history itself is so peerless.
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