Naples ’44

Theme

Sex & relationships

Prostitution, romance, marriage vetting, wartime liaisons

Appears in 14 diary entries.

  1. October 4 1943
    Discharged and hitching toward newly-liberated Naples, Lewis passes through Battipaglia, devastated by Allied carpet bombing, and learns nearby Altavilla was shelled to rubble on the mere suspicion it held Germans. Further on, he witnesses desperate Neapolitan housewives publicly exchanging sex for tins of rations with American soldiers.
  2. October 28 1943
    Asked to interpret between an Italian woman and her English-speaking-impaired British officer lover, Lewis observes how bread and supplies shape wartime romance.
  3. November 10 1943
    A Neapolitan prince and his sister calmly request that she be admitted to a (nonexistent) army brothel, illustrating the era's blunt attitudes to sex and survival.
  4. March 3 1944
    An account of a bizarre, catastrophic Allied intelligence scheme prompted by fears that prostitution was being used to spread disease among troops.
  5. March 26 1944
    Amid desperate poverty, Lewis is confronted by a mother attempting to sell her young daughter for sex — a stark instance of wartime destitution.
  6. April 1 1944
    A leisurely boat trip to Capri with Captain Frazer, Lola, and her friend Susanna captures a rare golden, carefree day amid the war.
  7. April 3 1944
    Frazer confides his distress over Lola's bruised neck, which Lewis explains is a locally accepted romantic convention rather than abuse.
  8. April 5 1944
    Lewis describes the grim routine of vetting prospective war brides, most of whom turn out to be supporting themselves through prostitution out of dire poverty.
  9. April 14 1944
    A marriage vetting brings Lewis to the elegant, refined Contessa della Peruta, a rare and striking contrast to the poverty he usually encounters.
  10. April 15 1944
    A marriage candidate frankly admits she's supported by both an Italian major and an American corporal, revealing the going economics of such arrangements.
  11. April 24 1944
    Frazer and Lola's tumultuous romance continues through breakups, threats of suicide, and reconciliation.
  12. April 25 1944
    Dinner at Frazer's looted, makeshift flat showcases the improvised elegance Neapolitans manage despite having almost nothing.
  13. August 15 1944
    A visit to an eccentric, aging Marchesa living amid ruin in her ancestral castle, rumored for scandalous past behavior with local youths.
  14. October 20 1944
    Official policy strongly discourages marriages between soldiers and Italian civilians, citing poor historical outcomes for such wartime unions.

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