An unexpected History Lesson

This novel by Maria Riva came as quite a surprise. Where I expected a Lovestory embedded in the setting of 2 italian immigrants leaving their country for a hopefully better life in America, I got a 20 hour lesson in the history of the World spanning from the beginning of the 20th. Century to the beginning of World War ll. The story mirrors the struggle for a better life by a bunch of international immigrants, a jewish german couple, our italians, as well as french, irish, polish people and so on as a microcosmos of the people that helped making America the Land of the Free. It deals with racial prejudice, joy and sorrow, political upheavals, the role of women during this time and many more subjects like WW l or the Great Depression. But to me, the most important topic is friendship, friendship that is not only colourblind, but also ignoring differences in religion, upbringing and appearance...be it weight, height or beauty. Since most of the men in this book are working for Henry Fords Car Factory, I learned a lot about the way this early tycoon thought of himself as the king of his country, treating his employees like they were his people...not shying away from using racial prejudice to justify his undemocratic behaviour.
The novel was published in 2017, and I think that the description of leaders and their followers, be it in the field of politics or business, is still relevant today.
Authoress Riva, currently still alive at 100 years (b. 1924) is, for those who don't know, the only child of german movie and stage legend Marlene Dietrich. She herself left her homecountry as a 7 year old to accompany her mother to Hollywood. Her own life story (as well as many stories about Dietrich) is told in her first book, Meine Mutter Marlene/The Life.
Reviewing an audiobook can't be done without referencing the person or people who lend their voice(s) to a writers words. In this case, cudos to Elizabeth Wiley, who gives every of the many recurring characters their own "voice", complete with accents, vocal mannerisms and, if necessary, developing mastering of their new tongue.
Highly recommended!

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