Eternal is a historical fiction novel about three friends living in Rome in WW2 (and a few years before and after). It is basically a love triangle with three characters of different backgrounds. We follow them over the course of the war and discover often intertwined family histories. In the background, the author describes the destiny of the Roman Jews.

Lisa Scottoline has written over 30 books, all thrillers. This is obvious as her style is plot-driven and flat, with short sentences and a "tell, don't show" approach. It often felt like I was reading a summary of the novel and not the novel itself. She stuck to many cliches of Roman culture with an overload of Italian words in italics. Scottoline did a lot of research, but some passages describing the historical events really distracted from the story and did not blend in properly.

I love Rome and WW2 history and I was hoping that this book is going to be more transportive and atmospheric. Unfortunately, while the story was good, the execution was mostly poor. It often felt like weak YA fiction with very flat characters. It ends up being the novel you read to see what will happen, not for the enjoyment of reading.
There were a few scenes that stood out, like the air raid on San Lorenzo but these were exceptions.

The reviews that compare this to the English Patient or Atonement seem really out of place to me. This book doesn't come close in quality.
I give it 3 stars because forced me to do my own research and learn something out of it (mentions of chief Roman rabbi Zolli, Irish priest Hugh O'Flaherty etc.).

The whole base plot often seemed like a reworked plot of Pearl Harbour, including the epilogue where a man marries his best friend's pregnant girlfriend. It would've been a tiny bit better without the prologue, but even without it, it was very predictable. ( )

My favorite author!!! Great historical fiction read - I learned quite a bit about Rome now I can’t wait to go back. I wanted this book to go on and on...... Thank you! ( )

Deeply intense! Lisa Scottoline’s first historical fiction novel is a masterpiece! I’m a huge fan of her work; therefore, I’m not surprised at all that Eternal lives up to the praise I’ve seen.

Set in Italy, between 1937 and 1943, three childhood friends, Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro are coming of age, and both young men are vying for Elisabetta’s love. Elisabetta dreams of becoming a writer, Marco is a cyclist, and Sandro a mathematics genius. All too soon, the three friends are subjected to the political division as Mussolini aligns with Hitler. Italy drastically changes and the families must respond according to their belief systems and places in the new Italy.

I borrowed the audiobook version from my local library through the Libby app. At approximately 17 hours in length, Lisa tells a beautiful story that contains a great deal of loss, suffering, and love. It feels a bit strange that I loved this novel that is filled with so much tragedy and pain. To learn the history of how Italy was impacted by the insanity of Hitler is incredibly sad; however, Lisa made sure...

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A Book And A Dog ( )

Eternal by Lisa Scottoline
Historical fiction. World War II, Italy.
Elizabetta, Sandro and Marco grew up and went to school together in Italy. The boys compete for Elizabetta’s heart but she can’t decide between the two. They grow into adults as Fascists and the Nazi army takes over their town and the Jewish are watched and separated.
War, love, sacrifice, loss and survival.

Engrossing, and poignant. An emotional journey I won’t soon forget. ( )

LOVED it! Great story with great characters. Learned alot. Now I have to go back to Rome to visit the locations in this book! ( )