Dark is the Morning

by Rupert Thomson

Sometimes love isn't where you belong

In a small town in the Abruzzo region of Italy, Gino, a troubled young man, realises that his childhood sweetheart Franca can give his life the happiness and stability he needs. They seem made for each other, and move to a remote house in the countryside. Franca soon gives birth to a son so handsome that people come from miles around to see him - but his sheer beauty causes Gino to doubt that he is truly the boy's father.

Descending into pathological jealousy and resentment towards a married man who had been Franca's lover, Gino is unable to stop himself imagining the worst, and embarks on a violent path that has catastrophic effects on those around him.

Genres: Fiction

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 7, 2026

About the author

Rupert Thomson, (born November 5, 1955) is an English writer. He is the author of thirteen critically acclaimed novels and an award-winning memoir. He has lived in many cities around the world, including Athens, Berlin, New York, Sydney, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and Rome. In 2010, after several years in Barcelona, he moved back to London. He has contributed to the Financial Times, the Guardian, the London Review of Books, Granta, and the Independent.

Reviews

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5✨
This was an ARC read, so perhaps it just wasn’t what I expected it to be. I went in thinking it would be tense, suspenseful and building up to something big. It fell flat for me. The first 60%, not a lot happened in the plot. Everything happened quite quickly towards the end. I also didn’t really warm to the characters.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve no idea why the British novelist, Rupert Thomson, isn’t better known. He’s the author of 13 critically acclaimed novels and he writes beautifully.

This novel is set in Abruzzo in Italy in the early 2000s. It is the sad and poignant story of the relationship between Gino and Franca, the corrosive power of his jealousy, the impact which the birth of their son has on Gino and the tragic events which this sets in train.

It’s narrated in the first person by Gino with chapters at the beginning and end narrated by a British ex-pat, Harry, who has a house in the area and is a friend of Gino’s.

I loved:
- the evocation of the wild and mountainous landscapes of Abruzzo;
- the writer’s obvious affinity with the food and culture of the area, including the strawberry festival at Nemi;
- that there is something of a fairy tale or fable about the book emphasised by the references to Roman mythology and the other worldly character of Gino and Franca’s baby;
- the portrayal of Gino’s difficult relationship with his father.

However, I was less convinced by the chapters narrated by Harry which bookend the novel. I wasn’t sure what his perspective was meant to add to the story and I found the sections about his relationship with his wife to be a bit of a digression in what is a very compelling and pacy narrative which reads very quickly. For me it would have been an even stronger book, if we also heard directly from Franca.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gino seems to have everything. He’s recovered from a period confined to a psychiatric hospital as a result of an act of violence he carried out, he’s living a mostly drug free life, he has a good job, and has been reunited with his childhood sweetheart, Franca. Their love for each other has been rekindled, they have found the perfect house in a beautiful location and Franca has given birth to their son, Elio.

But Gino is a man who seems bent on self-destruction, perpetually going over in his mind his father’s criticisms of his inadequacy and shortcomings. Gino is unable to rid himself of the idea that he cannot possibly be the father of a baby as astoundingly beautiful as Elio, examining his own features in the mirror and finding no similarity. ‘I was looking for my son’s face in my own, and I could find no trace of it. It wasn’t there.’ Unable – or unwilling through an innate paranoia – to accept Franca’s assurances that she has not been unfaithful, he begins to stalk the man he believes to be Elio’s father, a man with his own reputation for violence. Increasingly afflicted by disturbing dreams and unable to control his feelings of jealousy, Gino commits a devastating act from which there is no going back.

There is a pervasive sense of unease throughout the book, manifested by things such as a mysterious and unexplained episode in the life of the house’s previous owner. On the other hand, there are wonderful descriptions of the landscape of Abruzzo, Italian food and wine. Dark is the Morning is a slow burn of a novel but one which gradually builds to a crescendo. It’s dark but also sad because you’re left with a lingering sense of what could have been for Gino, Franca and Elio.

[Ben Dutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark is the Morning is the latest novel from the British born novelist Rupert Thomson. He has been writing since the late 1980s but only more recently seems to have been gaining critical attention, with the publication in 2023 of How to Make a Bomb (U.S. title Dartmouth Park).

This latest novel, befitting a man who has lived in various parts of the world, is set in Italy, where 9 year old schoolgirl Franca has told schoolfriend Gino that she will marry him one day - but when this prophecy comes true, there is something in her past which sends Gino towards madness. This short novel gripped me throughout, with engaging characters and situations. I read it in one breathless sitting, drawn on by Thomson's prose.

This is the second of his works which I have now read, and I will be seeking out more of his works off the back of this one, which is high praise indeed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of Ian McEwan and narrators that slowly descend into psychosis… do I have a read for you!

I decided to have a browse on NetGalley as I wanted to read something on my Kindle (when I’m at my partner’s house, he goes to sleep early and I don’t wanna have to go to the living room, so, yanno)

I randomly chose this book, and I’m shocked that I had never heard of Rupert Thomson before. His writing really reminded me of Ian McEwan, but without the political angle. I literally raced through this in a few hours, it was so spectacular.

This story centers on a man named Gino, a former addict who’s approaching his mid-thirties in small-town Italy. Eager to escape his father’s griping and wanting to make something of his life, he decides to reconnect with his childhood sweetheart, Franca. The majority of the story details their fairy-tale romance, following the pair as they fall in love, redo a country house, have a baby, etc…. But Gino’s intense jealousy over a previous fling of Franca’s begins to consume all of his thoughts, threatening to derail their lives (and spoiler….by God, does it…)

I haven’t read a novel this immersive in a while. I wholeheartedly recommend this book and will definitely be pursuing more books by Thomson.

Thank you so much to @netgalley for the E-ARC.

[Emma Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gino, a troubled young man, struggling to find his place and purpose in the world, finds the stability he needs when he marries his childhood sweetheart, Franca. But when Franca gives birth a boy who is so beautiful, Gino questions if he is the boy’s father. The stability married life had given him rapidly unravels as Gino questions Franca’s devotion, which drives him to seek out her old lover.

This is a very sweet yet sad story of love between childhood sweethearts that quickly turns dark as we descend with Gino into his violent paranoia. The characters were well drawn and the prose kept me turning the pages.

Probably not one for you if you’re not a fan of books without dialogue tags.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC