Genius in the Synagogue

Alessandro Rimon, a Jewish child prodigy in 1930s Genoa, is brought to the rabbi by his mother, Emilia, who is concerned about his wavering belief in God. The rabbi, more interested in tradition than prodigy, reassures Alessandro with a simple truth: "God believes in you always." This moment plants the seed for Alessandro's lifelong struggle with faith, identity, and belonging. The family's dynamic is established: Emilia's pride and anxiety, Marc's foreignness and reserve, and Alessandro's precociousness, all set against the backdrop of a Jewish community both proud and precarious in Fascist Italy.

Family Ties and Tensions

The Rimon household is a web of silences, resentments, and small joys. Emilia's relationship with her husband Marc is distant, her bond with her father Luigi is fraught, and her connection to her son is both possessive and critical. Luigi, the grandfather, feels alienated from his daughters but finds solace in his grandson. The family's Jewishness is more cultural than devout, and their sense of security is fragile, maintained by routine and denial as the world outside grows more dangerous.

A Child Prodigy Emerges

Alessandro's early reading and intellectual gifts become the family's pride, briefly uniting his parents in admiration and hope. His abilities are recognized at school, and he skips grades, becoming a local phenomenon. Yet, this precocity isolates him from peers and sets impossible expectations. The family's happiness is fragile, built on the exceptionalism of a child in a society growing increasingly hostile to difference.

Losses and New Beginnings

Alessandro learns he once had a brother who died young, a loss never discussed. He clings to objects—his grandmother's Star of David pendant, stories half-remembered from his grandfather—as anchors of memory and identity. The family's history is a patchwork of real and imagined memories, blending Jewish tradition with Italian life, and Alessandro's sense of self is shaped as much by what is hidden as by what is told.

Fascist Shadows, Family Light

As Mussolini's regime tightens its grip, Alessandro is swept into the rituals of Fascist youth, reciting oaths and attending rallies. Yet, he grows disillusioned, quietly rebelling by withdrawing. The family debates politics in coded ways, with Marc subtly exposing Alessandro to anti-Fascist ideas through foreign newspapers and stories. The tension between public conformity and private resistance becomes a defining feature of their lives.

Disappearances and Discoveries

The family is shaken when cousin Fausto disappears, suspected of anti-Fascist activity. The search for him exposes the limits of family loyalty and the dangers of political dissent. When Fausto is found, living under an assumed identity with a woman connected to the criminal underworld, the family must confront uncomfortable truths about survival, shame, and the boundaries of kinship.

Fausto's Flight and Return

Fausto's return to the family is fraught with tension. He justifies his disappearance as a quest for independence, but his story is met with skepticism and pain. The episode underscores the impossibility of true escape—from family, from history, from oneself. Fausto's choices foreshadow the dilemmas the Rimons will soon face as persecution intensifies.

Subtle Resistance, Hidden News

Marc enlists Alessandro in a clandestine operation: buying the Vatican newspaper to access uncensored news. Alessandro learns the art of saying without saying, writing essays that subtly subvert Fascist propaganda. The family's resistance is quiet but persistent, rooted in intellect and irony rather than open rebellion. Yet, the walls are closing in, and the cost of subtlety grows.

Schoolyard Outsider

As Alessandro advances to middle school, his youth and Jewishness make him a target for bullying and isolation. Formerly celebrated for his intellect, he now finds himself mocked and excluded. His cousins, once his champions, can only offer limited comfort. The experience of being an outsider becomes formative, teaching Alessandro about the cruelty of conformity and the resilience required to endure it.

The Fall of Genius

Alessandro's academic brilliance fades as he struggles with adolescence and the hostility of his peers. Emilia, who had invested her hopes in his exceptionalism, is devastated by his "normality." The family adjusts, but Emilia's disappointment lingers, a silent wound. The myth of the child genius is replaced by the reality of a boy navigating a hostile world.

Bullying and Belonging

Alessandro's struggles at school continue, but small acts of defiance—like a joke about Mussolini and the King—earn him a brief, grudging respect from classmates. Yet, true belonging remains elusive. The family's Jewishness, once a background detail, becomes a marker of difference and danger as anti-Semitic laws intensify.

Radio Waves and Warnings

The family's world contracts as anti-Jewish laws strip them of rights, jobs, and security. Friends and relatives begin to emigrate or are forced out of work. The radio, once a source of entertainment, becomes a lifeline for news and a symbol of what is lost when it is confiscated. The sense of impending catastrophe grows, but daily life continues in a state of suspended anxiety.

Laws and Letters

Marc receives an expulsion order as a foreign Jew, only to have it rescinded through connections. The family debates whether to leave Italy, torn between hope that the worst will pass and fear that it will not. The bureaucracy of persecution—census forms, identity papers, official letters—becomes a daily reality, eroding any sense of safety.

Exodus and Family Meetings

The extended family gathers in Livorno to debate whether to stay or flee. Arguments rage between optimists, who believe the laws will fade, and pessimists, who see the writing on the wall. Rituals and prayers offer brief solace, but no consensus is reached. The meeting ends with more questions than answers, and the family disperses, each to their own uncertain fate.

The Gathering at Livorno

The family's gathering is marked by debates over religion, assimilation, and what it means to be Jewish in a time of crisis. Some cling to tradition, others to secularism, but all are united by the threat of persecution. The inability to act collectively foreshadows the fragmentation and isolation that will follow as the situation worsens.

Rituals and Rifts

Alessandro's bar mitzvah becomes a moment of reflection on tradition and identity. The rabbi's words about the importance of being attached to the tree of tradition resonate, but Alessandro remains uncertain about his place in the world. The family celebrates, but the joy is shadowed by loss, fear, and the knowledge that their world is vanishing.

Adolescence and Alienation

Alessandro's relationships with girls—his cousin Adriana, the refugee Paula, and the classmate Alma—mirror his search for connection and self-understanding. The trauma of exile, the burden of memory, and the longing for normalcy shape his adolescence. The war intrudes on every aspect of life, making even love and friendship precarious.

Evian and the World's Indifference

News of the Evian Conference, where nations refuse to take in Jewish refugees, shatters any remaining illusions about rescue from abroad. The family realizes they are on their own, and the hope of escape narrows to a desperate gamble. The indifference of the world becomes another form of persecution.

Decisions on a Train

As the war intensifies, the family is forced into internal exile in the Italian mountains. Alessandro, now a teenager, grapples with the loss of home, the erosion of identity, and the challenge of survival. The decision to leave Italy becomes urgent, but is fraught with fear, guilt, and the weight of history.

Exile in the Mountains

Life in the mountain village is both a reprieve and a new form of exile. The family adapts, finding moments of normalcy and even happiness, but always under the shadow of war and the threat of discovery. Friendships are formed, routines established, but the sense of being outsiders never fully disappears.

Refugees and Remnants

The Rimons take in Hermann and Paula, Jewish children fleeing Austria. Their stories of Vienna's fall and the brutality of Nazi occupation bring the reality of the Holocaust into the family's home. Alessandro and Paula form a bond over shared language and trauma, but the pain of displacement and loss is ever-present.

Vienna's Fall, Genoa's Shelter

Paula recounts the night Austria fell to the Nazis, the violence, betrayal by neighbors, and the family's desperate flight. The Rimons' act of sheltering the Bergs is both an act of solidarity and a reminder of their own vulnerability. The departure of the Bergs for Singapore is bittersweet, marking another loss and another lesson in the randomness of survival.

Stories of Survival

The stories of those who escape and those who are left behind become a central theme. Alessandro learns that survival is as much about luck and timing as about courage or virtue. The family's history is now intertwined with the larger tragedy of European Jewry, and the weight of memory becomes both a burden and a source of strength.

Betrayal and Escape

As the Germans occupy Italy and the Fascist regime collapses, the Rimons are forced into hiding. Betrayals by neighbors, the confiscation of property, and the constant threat of arrest make daily life a nightmare. The family's only hope lies in false papers, smugglers, and the kindness—or self-interest—of strangers.

The Final Flight

The Rimons' escape to Switzerland is harrowing, marked by danger, extortion, and moments of grace. Alessandro's insistence on bringing his grandmother's Star of David, hidden in his jacket, becomes a symbol of identity and resistance. At the Swiss border, their fate hangs on the whim of officials, but ultimately, it is Alessandro's stubbornness and the tangible proof of his Jewishness that secures their entry. The family's journey ends not with triumph, but with the quiet relief of survival and the knowledge that their story is just one among many.

Characters

Alessandro Rimon

Alessandro is the novel's central figure, a child prodigy whose intellect both isolates and protects him. His journey from celebrated genius to persecuted outsider mirrors the fate of Italian Jewry. Psychologically, Alessandro is marked by a deep need for acceptance, a tendency toward self-doubt, and a stubborn core of resilience. His relationships—with his critical mother, distant father, loving grandfather, and various friends and cousins—shape his evolving sense of self. Alessandro's development is a movement from innocence to experience, from faith to skepticism, and ultimately, from passivity to agency as he insists on his right to survive and be recognized.

Emilia Rimon

Emilia is both a product and a victim of her environment. Her pride in Alessandro's genius is matched only by her disappointment in his ordinariness. She is critical, controlling, and often emotionally distant, yet her actions are driven by fear and love. Emilia's relationship with her husband is strained by cultural differences and unmet expectations, and her rivalry with her sister Wanda is a source of both comfort and pain. Psychologically, Emilia is torn between tradition and modernity, faith and doubt, and her journey is one of reluctant adaptation to loss and change.

Marc Rimon

Marc is an outsider in both his family and his adopted country. A Belgian Jew with a British passport, he is practical, reserved, and deeply moral. His love for Alessandro is expressed through quiet support and subtle resistance to Fascism. Marc's foreignness is both a liability and a lifeline, ultimately enabling the family's escape. Psychologically, he is marked by a sense of displacement, a longing for stability, and a capacity for endurance. His breakdown at the Swiss border reveals the cost of years of repression and fear.

Luigi (Nonno Luigi)

Luigi is the family patriarch, a retired railway worker who finds himself increasingly alienated from his daughters but deeply connected to his grandson. He embodies the old world of Italian Jewry—pragmatic, humorous, and rooted in folk wisdom. Luigi's proverbs and stories provide comfort and continuity, but his declining health and eventual need for hiding underscore the vulnerability of even the most "assimilated" Jews.

Wanda

Wanda, Emilia's sister, is less ambitious but more emotionally attuned. She provides Alessandro with the maternal warmth he lacks from his own mother and is a stabilizing presence in the family. Her marriage to Osvaldo is childless, and she channels her affection into her nephew. Wanda's journey is one of growing awareness and anxiety as the world becomes more dangerous, and her actions—especially in helping hide family members—are quietly heroic.

Osvaldo

Osvaldo, Wanda's husband, is a successful jeweler with connections across social and political lines. He is the family's fixer, using his network to secure favors, information, and, ultimately, survival. Osvaldo's pragmatism sometimes borders on cynicism, but his loyalty to family is unwavering. Psychologically, he is both a realist and an optimist, able to adapt to changing circumstances and provide practical solutions.

Fausto

Fausto, the cousin who disappears and returns, represents the desire to break free from family and societal expectations. His flight and subsequent life on the margins highlight the costs and ambiguities of survival. Fausto's relationship with Jole, a woman with underworld connections, complicates the family's understanding of loyalty and morality. Psychologically, Fausto is both fragile and defiant, a mirror for Alessandro's own struggles with identity.

Jole

Jole is Fausto's partner and the key to the Rimons' escape. Her connections to the criminal underworld and her ability to navigate danger make her both a savior and a symbol of moral ambiguity. Jole's sensuality and practicality are matched by a deep understanding of risk and loyalty. She is a figure of both admiration and suspicion, embodying the blurred lines between good and bad in times of crisis.

Paula Berg

Paula is a teenage refugee from Vienna, taken in by the Rimons. Her stories of Nazi brutality and survival bring the reality of the Holocaust into the family's daily life. Paula's relationship with Alessandro is marked by shared trauma, language, and a fleeting sense of intimacy. Psychologically, she is both vulnerable and strong, determined to move forward but haunted by the past.

Rabbi Bonfiglioli

The rabbi is a minor but significant figure, representing the continuity of Jewish tradition and the challenge of maintaining faith in a world of uncertainty. His interactions with Alessandro are marked by wisdom, patience, and a recognition of the limits of religious authority. The rabbi's teachings about tradition, identity, and resilience echo throughout Alessandro's journey.

Plot Devices

Coming-of-Age Amid Catastrophe

The novel's structure follows Alessandro from childhood to adolescence, using his personal development as a lens for the disintegration of Italian Jewish life under Fascism. The juxtaposition of ordinary milestones—school, first love, family rituals—with extraordinary events—persecution, exile, escape—creates a powerful narrative tension. Alessandro's loss of innocence is both personal and collective, reflecting the fate of a generation.

Family as Microcosm

The Rimons' internal conflicts—between tradition and modernity, faith and doubt, belonging and exclusion—mirror the larger fractures in Italian society. The extended family's debates, alliances, and betrayals serve as a microcosm of the Jewish community's struggle to respond to persecution. The use of family meetings, rituals, and stories as narrative anchors grounds the historical in the intimate.

Symbolism of Objects

The Star of David pendant, Alessandro's books, and family heirlooms serve as tangible links to the past and symbols of identity. The act of hiding the pendant in Alessandro's jacket during the escape becomes a central metaphor for the persistence of self in the face of erasure. Objects are invested with emotional and narrative weight, connecting characters across time and space.

Irony and Subtle Resistance

The novel employs irony, wordplay, and coded resistance—essays that say without saying, jokes that mask defiance, rituals that persist under threat. These devices highlight the limits of open rebellion and the necessity of adaptation. The tension between what is said and what is meant becomes a survival strategy, both for individuals and the community.

Foreshadowing and Historical Parallels

The narrative uses foreshadowing—references to the fate of German and Austrian Jews, the indifference of the world at Evian, the gradual tightening of laws—to build a sense of inevitability and dread. The family's debates and decisions are set against the backdrop of historical events, making clear that their story is both unique and representative.

Analysis

Tonight is Already Tomorrow is a masterful exploration of the collapse of normalcy under the weight of history, told through the intimate lens of a single family. Lia Levi's novel is both a coming-of-age story and a chronicle of collective trauma, using the figure of the child prodigy Alessandro to embody the hopes, fears, and resilience of Italian Jewry. The book's central lesson is the fragility of identity and the necessity of adaptation: survival depends not on genius or virtue, but on luck, timing, and the willingness to hold onto what matters most—even when everything else is lost. Through its nuanced characters, rich symbolism, and deft use of irony, the novel interrogates the meaning of belonging, the limits of family, and the enduring power of memory. In a world where tomorrow is always already threatened, the act of remembering, resisting, and reaching for connection becomes both a form of defiance and a source of hope.

Last updated: July 28, 2025