Eternal

Q: Who was your favorite character and why? 

Q: Did the characters stay with you after you finished the book? 

Q: Who did you think Elisabetta should have ended up with? Elisabetta’s story and the prologue raises the question of the paternity of her son. Did that matter to you as you read along and if so, how? Did you keep in mind or forget about it? How do you think her son will react to learning his mother’s and father’s secrets? 

Q: Were you aware of the events in the story before you read it?

Q: Do you think what happened in Italy and in Germany could happen in the U.S. or anywhere else, today? Do you think the rise of the right and the resurgence of antisemitism in the U.S. and Europe is a foreshadowing?

Q: How does Marco’s attitude toward the Fascist party change? What attracted him to them? His dyslexia? The feeling of feeling superior, the nationalism, being Italian, the glory of being Roman. Sandro’s family was Jewish but also Fascists at the beginning. 

Q: A major difference between Fascism in Italy and Naziism in Germany is that Facism did not begin as antisemitic. In fact, the mayor of Rome was Jewish before Fascism and there was a 50% intermarriage rate? Were you surprised to learn that Hitler imitated Mussolini and not the other way around? 

Q: Let’s talk about the meaning of the quote near the end of the book. “Hate was eternal, but above all, so was love. Love was the answer to bridge the divide.