"An Italian girl in Brooklyn" by Santa Montefiore

An audio book.

New York, 1979. Evelina (62) prepares a thanksgiving meal. She left Italy 30+ years before. Franklin, her husband (76) is there. So are Dan (lazy and flighty), Aldo (hard-working, with a long-term partner) and Eva-Marie, their children. Friend Toppino and widow aunt Madalena are there.

Then it's 1934 in Northern Italy. Evelina's father is an avant-garde writer. Her mother's an art-dealer of sorts. Evelina sees her mother having an affair They live in a run-down villa. She lives a sheltered life, home-taught. Her older sister Bernadetta is pretty. She agrees to an arranged marriage. Her husband hits her. Meanwhile Evelina has fallen love with Ezra, a dressmaker's son. A jewish girl had been set up for him. He and Evalina make love. But he's a jew. We learn about the various race laws. Ezra and his family die. Evelina's little brother Bruno suddenly dies. Evelina leaves to start life again with Aunt Madelena in New York.

She turns down a long-term boyfriend her age. She meets classics lecturer Franklin and they marry. They sail over to Italy. The Italians like Franklin (his Latin helps). Evelina still can't forget Ezra. Bernadetta is happily remarried.

What sort of contact has there been between Evelina and her family? Minimal, it seems.

Greenwich Village, 1959. She sees Ezra and immediately sleeps with him (she's married with kids, but her husband's busy). Ezra had returned to the village after the war only to be told by his jewish ex that Evaline was married in New York (she wasn't). Ezra had moved to New York 5 years before, repairing violins. But he didn't try to track her down?. She considers divorce. She discusses a friend's divorce with Franklin. She mentions Ezra to Franklin, who suggests that he become a family friend. Their kids look upon him as their father's friend as much as their mother's. There are many kinds of love, they all agree. When Franklin's dying, he tells his wife that he wants her to be with Ezra. She writes down her life so that her children can read it and understand.