The Girl from the Paradise Ballroom: A Novel
Page 29
“What’s wrong?” Antonio said to Filomena. “You look flustered.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” said Filomena, “nothing at all.” Briskly she gathered her belongings, snapping shut her handbag, buttoning Nina’s velvet coat. “Let’s be off. I think it’s going to rain.”
The house in Frith Street looked as it had always done, tall and narrow, the door opening directly onto the pavement. The curtains were drawn at all the high windows. It made the house seem shrunken and secretive, shutting them out.
“We used to live there, your zia Mena and I,” Antonio said. “My papa, Enrico, and I ran a little sweet shop. And zia Mena used to work in a laundry, washing sheets. When she came home her clothes always smelled of starch.”
“Soho,” said Nina, “we’re in Soho, aren’t we?”
“That’s right.” Antonio glanced at his son. “Do you want to go inside, Rico? We can knock on the door if you like, see if the new tenants will let us in.”
Rico had screwed up his eyes, tilting his neck back to look at the upper window of the house. “I do not remember it,” he said. “I do not remember it at all.” His voice was thick with distress, as though the not remembering were somehow his fault.
Gravely Antonio put his arm about his son’s shoulders. “It does not matter, Rico,” he said, and he gestured along the street toward the square, with its patch of lawn, its graceful trees. Their leaves were beginning to curl and fade in the autumn chill. “We’ll go, shall we, and sit in the park? Then we can find somewhere to have tea. Nina? Do you want to go to the park?”
Nina had been distracted by a figure on the opposite pavement. “Aunt Min,” she said, pointing, “why is that man staring at us?”
Filomena turned. The man was stocky and wide faced, with straw-colored hair. He stood quite still, his feet planted upon the paving stones. Her first giddy thought was that he had not changed, except that in one hand he carried a stick. Then he stepped out to cross the road, rolling his weight clumsily forward to get started.
“Frostbite,” said Stan Harker. “I lost three toes to it, out there in Norway. Made life in a German prison camp tricky, I can tell you.” He fixed his pale blue eyes upon Filomena. “I’m surprised to see you, Filomena. I came to look for you, but the new people said you’d moved on.”
“I have—I did—” Filomena’s mouth was loose and sticky as glue; she could not get the words out.
“I’ve got lodgings around the corner,” said Stan. “Easy for walking to Bow Street. They’ve given me a desk job with the force, but it won’t last. I can’t stand it, not after being on the beat. I’ll have to learn a trade, carpentry maybe, or mechanics.” He looked at Nina. “Is this your daughter? She looks like you.”
“No, it’s not my daughter, I’m not married, it’s my—my niece, we’ve been living down in Sussex, she and I. And this is my nephew from Italy…”
Antonio, hearing his competent sister dither, stepped forward. “Constable Harker,” he said, putting out his hand. Stan smiled.
“It’s Antonio, isn’t it? Well, I’m glad to see that you got through the war.”
“Yes,” said Antonio, “I got through the war.” The two men looked at one another. Each could read the memory of hardship and imprisonment in the other’s face.
“What about your mother?” asked Filomena, finding her voice.
Stan shook his head. “Air raid. The house was flattened. And she wouldn’t use the shelters. She always said that if she was going to be killed she’d rather it was in her own bed. Well, she got her wish.”
Filomena was going to say, I’m sorry, but her mouth had turned to glue once more. Beside her Nina was growing restless, turning her toes in and out, fidgeting with her belt.
“Are we going to the park, Aunt Min? Rico and I want to go to the park.”
“We are going to Soho Square, Constable Harker,” Antonio said, “and then to have some tea. Would you like to come with us?”
“Thank you,” said Stan. “That’s very civil. I will, if you don’t mind.”
The square was in shadow but the sun was glinting upon the top of the trees. Antonio took one of Nina’s hands, Rico the other. From time to time Nina gave a gawky unexpected skip, jerking at their arms. Stan and Filomena followed. At first Filomena kept pausing, concerned he could not keep up, but then she and Stan fell into step, and they walked on in silence, side by side.
Several books have been invaluable to me in writing this novel. ‘Collar the Lot!’ by Peter and Leni Gillman offers a definitive account of the internment and expulsion of so-called enemy aliens during the war, while Island of Barbed Wire by Connery Chappell paints a vivid picture of the lives of internees on the Isle of Man. Both Terri Colpi’s The Italian Factor and Claudia Baldoli’s Exporting Fascism provide detailed insights into the Italian community in Britain, especially during the 1930s. Of the many books that exist about wartime Britain the one I found most useful was Philip Ziegler’s London at War 1939–1945. Any historical errors are, of course, my own.
Thanks go to my wonderful agent Maggie Hanbury for her belief in me and in this book. I am also grateful to Jenny Parrott, Philippa Pride, and Sheila Thompson for their advice on the text, and to Robin Straus and all the team at Crown, especially Rose Fox and Kim Silverton, for their hard work on this U.S. edition. Finally, thank you to my parents, Elinor Winifred Luxton and Don Love, for their lifelong encouragement, and to Barry MacDonald for his constancy and support.
1. Antonio and Olivia, as a singer and a dancer, are both able to captivate and hold the attention of an entire room but neither possesses the same confidence and authority in their daily lives. How is this contradiction reflected in their relationship?
2. Discuss their first meeting and its repercussions throughout the novel.
3. Antonio and Olivia are both outsiders to the glamorous world of high society London; do you think this is what brings them together?
4. Do you think the statement, “Maybe some women aren’t meant to be tamed. Maybe they just need to run free until they find someone just as wild to run with them” applies to Olivia? Do you think this is why she pulls away from Bernard and is drawn to Antonio?
5. Did you respect Antonio for his sense of duty to his family, or did you feel that he put undeserving individuals before himself and his dreams?
6. The women in the novel, especially Olivia and Filomena, have to find ways of dealing with the social or family restrictions that limit their independence. How far do you think restrictions like these still apply to women in the twenty-first century?
7. Fascism is a theme and source of conflict throughout the book on both a global and familial scale. Discuss how, despite Antonio’s resistance, his family’s connection to the fascist cause ultimately results in his downfall.
8. The novel looks at what life was like for Italian immigrants in Britain and the prejudices they encountered, particularly in wartime. How do you think their experiences compare with those of immigrant communities in America?
9. Discuss the relationship between Filomena, Nina, and Bernard in their unconventional family structure.
10. How did your opinion of Bernard change throughout the book, as a philanthropist, husband, and widowed father?
11. Filomena and Stan have a very different kind of relationship than Olivia and Antonio. What does the resolution of the novel say about passionate versus unhurried love?
12. Why do you think this time period in London is so enthralling and captivating to Americans?
13. If you were to write the epilogue, what would you envision happening to all of the characters?
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