Across the River and Into the Trees

Set in post–World War II Venice, this late novel follows an aging American colonel over the course of a single weekend as he confronts the weight of memory, love, and approaching death. Moving between present moments in the city and recollections of wartime experience, the narrative explores themes of courage, disillusionment, loss, and the fragile persistence of desire. A relationship with a young Italian woman offers both tenderness and a mirror to his own mortality. Written in Ernest Hemingway’s spare, disciplined prose, the book reflects his enduring preoccupation with honor under pressure and the emotional aftermath of war. Readers drawn to introspective character studies and the quiet drama of a life reckoned with will find much to engage them here.