An American soldier becomes entangled with a desperate young woman in occupied Rome in this "superb" novel of postwar Italy (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Robert is an American GI in Rome during the final months of World War II. Lisa is a young woman obliged to work in Mamma Adele's on the Via Flaminia. The passion they feel for one another is fueled by their separate, and equally desperate, needs. But can love truly exist between victor and vanquished?

This classic story of a poignant affair, set amid the aftermath of war, is as relevant and moving today as when it was first published in 1949.

"Keeps us guessing to the end. An enthralling narrative, and art of a high order." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Full of dramatic conflicts . . . The dialogue is the best I have read in any war novel." —The New York Times