Requiem for a Malta Fascist

by Francis Ebejer

243 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Francis Ebejer was born in 1925 and was a novelist and playwright writing in both English and Maltese.
He has written plays for the stage, television and radio.
He has travelled widely. At age seventeen-and-a-half he worked for a year (1943-44) in North Africa with the British Eighth Army as an English-Italian interpreter.
Requiem for a Malta Fascist (or The Interrogation) is his fifth English published novel.

Reviews

[En · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Charles Briffa's translation of the book into Maltese and I wouldn't have it any other way. Having read Ebejer before, what I've come to love about his work is the sociopolitics he blends seamlessly into an engaging, fast-paced narrative. This novel is both interesting for enthusiasts of Maltese history and political climate as well as for those looking for humanity- love, friendship, betrayal and sacrifice in the context of adversity. Highly recommended.

[okyrhoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first section (the Twenties) is written in a detached and abbreviated manner. Lorenzo, the first person narrator and protagonist talks about his childhood and early youth. He refers to specific events that marked him and haunted him later in life, but the details surrounding these events, or how/why they were important to the narrator, are not clearly expressed. He is concerned for but also repulsed by his cousin Kosimo; yet we don't really understand why this is so, as Kos's peculiarities (is he mentally challenged in some way?) are not fully explained. He seeks to isolate himself from his mother and his step-father; again we are not given the details of what's wrong within the family dynamic.
In the following decade/section of the book, when Lorenzo has moved to attend school in Valletta the capital city, we are introduced to his friend Paul, for whom he has a conflicted attraction. Lorenzo admires the maturity, manliness and decisiveness of Paul, but is concerned and dismayed over Paul's ideological convictions.
It's obvious that this push/pull dialectic echoes the complex relationship with Kos, yet Paul and Kos have nothing in common. There's not much revealed about Paul, his past, his present, what the relationship with Lorenzo entails, except for Lorenzo's obvious infatuation with Paul.
From this point onwards, as the storyline begins to include the events leading up to WWII, the reader begins to interpret Paul not as a character in his own right, but as a symbol - representing Italy and the rise of Mussolini's Fascism.
Malta is not independent; the British control the local government (annulling the constitution) and the (maritime) connection of the island to the outside. Historically, it would make sense for Malta/Lorenz to view Italy/Paul as a vital ally/brother against the stepfather/Britain. Previously, Paul had been engaged to the Ester, a young Jewish girl. Now, Paul has had a change of heart, breaks off the engagement, and moves closer to Italy. Lorenze is upset with Paul on two accounts: the betrayal of Ester (representing Malta's Semitic history) and the dangerous association with Italy/fascism. Yet Lorenz realises that the Italian fascism is the only currently available alternative to British domination. Lorenz must choose between two evils: the British or the Italians. Lorenz, now a young man, is driven to choose a side, and he decides on what he assumes is a morally acceptable position: to be true to friendship/fraternity/national unity, even if the friend has chosen the wrong path. He decides to stick with Paul, acting as a protector to his excesses, and doing what he can to keep Paul safe from the authorities, even if it means betraying Paul's comrades.
When Paul is imprisoned, Lorenz's political conflict shifts to the equation between the Countess Elena (representing the seductive & maternal aspects of fascism) and the demands of Superintendent Cefai (the agent of British colonial/paternal control of the island). Lorenz/Malta allies himself with both; each side offers him something, either security or succor (in this time of food shortage). Autonomy/independence from either parent is impossible.

The Forties section takes up the half of the novel, and it relates the heavy bombing the tiny island suffered during the war, first from the Italians and then by the Germans. It's only here that I began to develop an interest in Lorenz as a person. I found Lorenz's responses to these events more authentic, he is more forthcoming about his feelings, and this helped to imbue him with a palpable dimensionality.

When the who/what/where/why of the interrogation becomes evident, the story takes on another level of complexity. I am a bit apprehensive about the message implied in this passage, and I am not sure if I'm interpreting accurately (that the victims of fascism became themselves oppressors).