The Viceroys

THE VICEROYS

by Federico De Roberto

 

Award: PEN/Translation Winner 1963

 

Date Read: June 14, 2023

 

The Viceroys reads like Kristin Lavransdatter meets Wolf Hall. A family of nobility and prestige suffers the ups-and-downs of their political and economic times, all while squabbling and back stabbing each other along the way. De Roberto’s epic novel opens with the death of the matriarch of the family, Donna Teresa Uzeda, who is responsible for the reclamation of the Uzeda’s fortune. When she had married into the family, only debts and empty coffers greeted her. Through her shrewd investments and thrift, she was able to restore the family to their previous riches.

 

From this death begins the first of many skirmishes over wills and inheritances. With every death in the family it seems the life that has been lost is nothing compared to the riches to be gained. I would hate to be so myopic towards wealth rather than the people who I’ve loved and lost. Then again, those that were lost in this family were no real treasures.

 

Marriages here are made for strategic alliances, rather than love. The one character who actually loved with her whole heart, Teresa, ended up marrying the brother of her beloved because it had already been “arranged” by the family. While she settled into her role and wife and mother in this loveless arrangement, she had to seal off a portion of her heart to survive. And all this while watching her beloved, Giovanno, succumb to illness, madness and suicide.

 

Of the other many shenanigans in this family, Consalvo, after a squandered youth of drunken good times, local mayhem and the kidnapping and raping of women he desired, finally settles himself down to learning. In time, his family connections see him enter local government, only to put the local legislature into grave debt. Consalvo conspires to leave his post at the apex of a crisis where the municipality is out of money, the improvement projects must be abandoned and taxes must be raised to prevent bankruptcy. At this moment, he announces his resignation, leaving his superior holding the bag.

 

Not only does Consalvo screw over his brother-in-law in this way, but Consalvo announces his candidacy for the senate, knowing full well that his brother-in-law had been leading his entire public life to achieve that post. With his reputation ruined, Consalvo supersedes him to his candidacy, screwing him over in the worst way. And this is how he treats family. I’d hate to see what he does to his enemies.

 

Regardless, this little-known epic is clearly a classic and should become part of those 1000 Books to Read Before You Die lists. An excellent, classic family saga.

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