Finding Margaret Fuller: A Novel

On Holy Thursday, Margaret goes to St. Peter’s Basilica to see the full pomp of the Catholic Church on display. The new pope, Pio Nono, is beloved by the people for his liberal political views. The Vatican rules the Papal States as a theocracy, but the pope seems open to the idea of an elected government in Rome. After the service, Margaret becomes separated from the Spring family and accidentally bumps into the same young man she encountered while viewing St. Teresa’s statue. He introduces himself as Marchese Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, a count who is a member of the Civic Guard. Margaret thinks, “With his rich mahogany hair and olive-toned features, he looks every bit the Italian nobleman” (274). Giovanni offers to escort Margaret home. As they walk, they learn each other’s history. Margaret has traveled the world, but Giovanni has never left Rome. When they part that evening, Margaret wistfully realizes that she may never see her escort again.

Much to her surprise, Margaret finds Giovanni pacing the sidewalk outside her residence the following morning. When she goes out to meet him, he invites her to take a walk. He shows her the Ossoli Palace that his family owned in more prosperous times. In the chapel adjoining the property, the artwork and the Roman devotion to the Virgin Mary impress Margaret. After this jaunt, Giovanni makes daily visits to her home. He even attends Easter mass with Margaret and the Spring family. In the subsequent days, Giovanni offers his services as a tour guide for Margaret and her friends. Sadly, she realizes that her job at the newspaper will soon require her to continue her travels and leave Rome.

Giovanni prepares a picnic lunch to celebrate Margaret’s 37th birthday. She tells him that she must soon leave Rome. Much to her surprise, Giovanni hints that he wants to marry her. He took her to the Ossoli chapel because he made a promise to his mother that he would only enter the church with the woman he intended to marry. Margaret objects that they’re ill-suited to one another: She’s 11 years older and a Protestant. Giovanni’s family would, no doubt, object to the match. In addition, her Tribune job calls her elsewhere. Giovanni insists that none of these things matter: “I know you. Just as I know myself. And I know that we will be together. You will return to Roma, Margherita, amore mia, and when you do, I’ll be here. Remember, my dear, our word here in Roma is Speranza. Hope” (288).

By summer of 1847, Margaret finds herself in Venice. However, the city’s many charms are lost on her. After much soul-searching, she feels ready to live an unconventional life. Taking her inspiration from the free-spirited George Sand, she informs the Spring family that she’ll be returning to Rome unchaperoned while they continue their travels northward.

During the Advent season in the fall, Margaret has rented rooms for herself in Rome and tries to contact Giovanni once more. She knows that he’ll attend a mass that Pio Nono is performing at a nearby church, so after the service, she finds him, and he’s overjoyed to see her. They leave the throng to find a scenic overlook. As they watch the sun set over Rome, she kisses him, but he recoils. Margaret is confused and thinks, “Giovanni had told me, before I left, that he wished to marry me. But now, it seems, he does not even wish to kiss me” (298).

Giovanni doesn’t come to visit for a few weeks, and Margaret is miserable, thinking she misunderstood his intentions. He reappears on Christmas Eve as Margaret is preparing to attend mass and offers to go with her. Afterward, when they return to her apartment, Giovanni seems inclined to resume their courtship: “I tip my face up toward his. Our lips meet. And this time, unlike on top of the Janiculum Hill, he does not pull back. He presses closer, and I welcome it” (300). The two make love, and Margaret feels transformed by the experience: “I know that from this moment on I will forever be a fallen woman. Why, then, do I feel as though I’m soaring?” (301).

Margaret and Giovanni continue their love affair, but it has an unwelcome consequence. In January 1848, Margaret discovers that she’s pregnant. She hesitates to tell Giovanni, but he reacts favorably: “Margherita, I’ve told you that I knew from the beginning. I’ve always known you would be my wife. Will you have me?” (305).

By spring, the mood in Rome is euphoric as other regions throw off foreign rule, and more people agitate for national unification. The Austrians and French may retaliate, but Romans are calling for the return of their exiled leader Giuseppe Mazzini, whom Margaret met when she lived in London. By Easter, Margaret and Giovanni have wed in a secret ceremony. Giovanni is awaiting his inheritance and fears it will be cut off if his family knows about his marriage too soon.

By summer, Margaret has written to her friends in the US to inform them of her marriage and pregnancy. As the political situation in Italy grows more unstable, Margaret exposes herself to great risk by remaining: “My friends write to tell me that Rome is a powder keg and I will be caught in its destruction if I do not leave and return home” (310). Instead, she decides to await the birth of her child in the small village of Rieti outside the city. Giovanni visits as often as his duties allow. Fortunately, he’s there for the delivery of the baby.

In September 1848, Margaret gives birth to a son, whom the couple name Angelo, or Nino. By November, she realizes that she must leave the baby in the care of a wetnurse so that she can return to work in Rome. The little family will need the extra money to build their financial future. As she leaves Nino, Margaret thinks, “Leaving him feels as though I’m leaving the greater part of my heart behind, in these remote Italian mountains, as I ride toward the unknown, and a city bracing for war” (318).

In the fall, Margaret sends more reports back to Greeley and is also working on a book about Italian unification. She sees this as the greatest work of her life. One day, she notices a crowd marching toward the Vatican. The people are demanding freedom from foreign powers. Margaret follows in their wake. To her horror, she sees many gunned down by the pope’s Swiss Guard. Margaret is thoroughly disillusioned with Pio Nono: “He’s not a father to the people. He’s a tyrant who will cling to power by whatever means necessary, even if it means spilling our blood” (321). She then receives word that the pope has fled the city to save his own life.

Winter of 1848 brings more calls for national freedom, but the movement will likely be suppressed by the French and Austrian empires that have carved up portions of Italy for themselves. Giuseppe Mazzini returns to Rome and visits Margaret. He advises that retaliation will soon follow: “They will encircle us. War is coming to Rome” (328).

Just as Mazzini predicted, the French bombard the city. After months of this attack, people are running low on food. Margaret volunteers her time at a hospital for the wounded and narrowly survives a bombing attack.

The ravaged city struggles to defend itself during the summer, but the war is coming to an end. Mazzini warns Margaret to flee and to take Giovanni with her lest the French execute him. Margaret steals away to find him. He now holds the rank of captain. Although he’s still unharmed, the siege has taken a toll on him. Margaret bitterly realizes that while the US is celebrating its own independence on this July night, Italy has temporarily lost its bid for freedom.

Margaret and Giovanni travel to Rieti, which has remained untouched by the battle for Rome. They’re shocked to see their son in ill health and realize that his caregivers have been neglectful. Knowing that the French are hunting for Giovanni, the couple makes plans to take Nino and flee.

By the fall, the family is staying in Tuscany, which has been untouched by the conflict to the south. Margaret writes to her friends in America, informing them of the state of affairs in Italy. She continues her dispatches to the Tribune and works on her book.

In January, Margaret accepts an invitation to tea with celebrated poet Elizabeth Barret Browning. She and her husband, Robert Browning, eloped and now live in Florence with their son. Margaret and Elizabeth form a fast friendship. Elizabeth encourages Margaret to continue to write and speak because this will inspire future generations of women to do the same.

In the spring of 1850, Margaret completes her book about Italian unification. During this time, she receives a note from a young woman who once attended her Conversations. Elizabeth Cady Stanton invites her to serve as President of the National Women’s Rights Convention—the first gathering of its kind in the US. Margaret realizes that much work remains to be done in her country of birth and convinces Giovanni to travel there, where they’ll be safe.

Before leaving Italy, Margaret makes one more visit to Elizabeth, confessing her fears about how she’ll be received when she returns home. Elizabeth says, “My darling, if it is the scandal of marrying a Roman Catholic that you fear, I tell you this: no one reads the books about the boring women who follow the rules” (373).

In the spring of 1850, Margaret boards a cargo ship with her family. Giovanni tells her of an old family legend: “Any Ossoli who tries to leave Italy on the water will meet an end at sea” (375). As the ship passes through the Straits of Gibraltar, Margaret thinks back on her checkered past: “What a life this butterfly has made. A life of stories. Stories of travel, of transformation, of sowing and growing. And even though the ocean unfurls before me […] I have already arrived” (378).

The book’s final section is written from the perspective of Louisa May Alcott after she receives the news of Margaret’s death. She vows to follow the example of the fearless woman who insisted that she had a right to choose her own path in life: “Margaret has gotten them started. Hers was the flame that first lit the way. Now it falls to her, Louisa May Alcott, and the countless others […] to keep the march moving forward” (380).