The Rumbling of the Waters (The Restoral Trilogy)
Bergamo, 1923: In this second volume of Dennis’s Restoral trilogy, Renzo Guidici, loyal blackshirt, philanderer, spv, and ultimately murderer, is sent to investigate the collapse of the Gleno Dam, a disaster that cost more than 350 people their lives. His remit from the Fascist party is to find anarchist scapegoats connected to Luigi Galleani (real historical figures are seamlessly woven into the narrative), given that a quantity of gunpowder has gone missing. There he discovers that the true cause is poor materials coupled with lax inspection and that the workmen knew and had voiced their concerns.
Renzo is not without courage (he is a World War I veteran), but the epiphany moment one might expect from this disillusionment with his masters never really arrives. Instead, Renzo attempts to manoeuvre his way through power dynamics and allegiances that ultimately lead to his downfall, though all he has ever really sought to be is a ‘good’ party member. Indeed, he justifies the worst of his actions as inevitable, mere collateral: ‘it was a squadristi raid. These things happen.’
The story takes him as far as Philadelphia, where he learns firsthand how tough life is for a penniless immigrant. Gabriele D’Annunzio resurfaces in this second book, with a compelling but repugnant portrait of the poet in his stifling, cluttered villa at Vittoriale. Another deftly drawn character is the incompetent and venal Roberto Farinacci, Secretary of the Fascist party; the depth of Dennis’s research is noteworthy.
This book is an absorbing historical and psychological thriller. It’s also a warning of what happens in a democracy when the rule of law is subverted and instrumentalised. As Renzo writes, ‘Acts I undertook back then, done in good faith for the benefit of the patria, appeared harsh when I wrote them down.’
