When Anna, now living in California, is contacted by the Italian lover she knew decades before, she recalls their affair and the child she gave up for adoption. As the episode returns to haunt her—threatening the life she’s built, including her marriage—the story moves back in time to her youth in Europe.
Rome, 1979. Anna, twenty-two and living abroad, is involved with a man already engaged to … engaged to be married. When she meets and befriends his fiancée, she is forced to confront the moral consequences of her actions. But an unexpected pregnancy, an anonymous letter, and threatening relatives complicate the picture. A novel in which an unconventional heroine, far from home, is forced to reckon with the judgment of others.
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This book is full of beautiful descriptive writing of the scenes around you and the culture of Italy. Written so that you can place yourself in the setting. There were a few times that I felt the story slowed down just slightly but the writing seemed to make me not be able to put it down.
The story seemed to create a sense of urgency as I read it. Although a long-ago affair is not something I’ve experienced nor intend to, somehow Jessica Levine made me feel as if it were me. I could almost feel the sense of dread when Anna received the email from long ago. The sense of dread right along with that feeling of happiness. I can think of no other reason an author could make me feel these things from mere words on paper except good writing.
Jessica Levine’s well researched novel takes readers into the hearts of young Americans living in Italy and France twenty-five years ago. Nothing Forgotten suggests that what we think we see – may not be real. It is not a mystical story, though the raw reality is so well hidden that Anna and Michael’s family and best friends are shocked as their marriage unravels. Her long ago lover starts sending her emails from out of the blue – this prompts the final decline. Anna thought she had put Sergio out of her mind forever but now she cannot stop thinking about him. She and Michael’s communication had already degraded to frequent heated arguments, followed by tired apologies and regret. Michael’s once upon a time charms have long become small irritations which rapidly escalate into contempt. Their young teen daughter, Esther, feels their tension with much despair and insecurity. She does not want to be a child of divorce like so many of her friends.
Anna’s Italian boyfriend, Sergio, is the classic Italian lover. At the time of their relationship, he was her supervisor and betrothed to Olivia, a lovely Italian girl in his home town. I couldn’t help thinking while reading if this were a memoir rather than fiction, it could have been another “me, too” case. He takes her home on week-ends to meet his fiancé. Olivia is a sweet and trusting soul. They become friends, and Anna hates herself for deceiving her. Anna is invited to their wedding.
Finally Anna was left pregnant and broke, with no one to turn to. She bravely carried her baby to term and gave him up for adoption – before moving forward with her life.
The author’s strength is in her descriptions of place and time, as well as her character development. She creates a believable, though improbable plot. But then we all know real life is often stranger than fiction. This is a richly detailed story of passion and failure, deception and honesty, with anticipation and nostalgia. It is about making hard choices and living with those decisions, and the twisted ties that hold a family together.
When we meet Anna, the complex but well-intentioned protagonist, there is tension in her life, something is amiss, and we are very quickly taken back twenty-some years to learn her backstory. As I plunged into the world of this 22-year old living in Italy, I was initially envious of her and the freedom and adventure she is enjoying. Yes, her relationship with Sergio is complicated and not ideal; yes, she had a difficult childhood which, no doubt, feeds into her insecurities and desire to not be tied down. But she knows herself and what she needs and struggles to shape her life as she envisions it. Then, as the story continues and the plot thickens, I no longer felt envious of Anna but, rather, empathetic toward her and her somewhat messy life, realizing she uncomfortably bears the weight of her decisions. She is imperfect, as all of us are, so she can be unkind at times, with seemingly selfish motives. That’s what makes her real. Unlike some readers, I do not need to love the main character in order to enjoy the story, I just need to find the character believable and the story compelling. Jessica Levine’s descriptions of places and people, including Anna’s roommate, friends, lovers, relatives and co-workers, are well-crafted and authentic, so the story held my attention and I could clearly envision Anna’s world. The ending is unpredictable, and the last several chapters felt more rushed than I would’ve preferred, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.