
DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997             TAG: 9704220051

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E6   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Book Review

SOURCE: BY PEGGY DEANS EARLE 

                                            LENGTH:   80 lines

FOREIGN ``INVADERS'' BEDEVILED IN ITALY

TWENTY-TWO centuries ago in the northern shallows of Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, Italy, thousands of Roman troops were ambushed and massacred by Hannibal's army.

While it isn't quite so deadly, another foreign invasion is going on in that central Italian region today. More and more, land and buildings are being bought by outsiders imagining a fantasy retreat in the quiet hills where St. Francis once charmed the animals.

Some of the many characters in ``After Hannibal,'' Barry Unsworth's 11th novel, are just such outsiders, gone to Umbria to live their innocent dreams - only to be ambushed by nasty surprises. Along the same country road, the parallel misfortunes of diverse inhabitants intersect.

The Chapmans, a British couple, have bought a vacation villa. Their Italian neighbors accuse them of being responsible for the collapse of part of the neighbors' stone wall, claiming that vibrations from trucks used in the Chapmans' renovations caused the damage. The locals' demand for reparations serves as a battle cry for the Chapmans, and a maddening war of will and wits ensues.

Then there are the Greens, a couple of lovable American art professors who retire to Umbria to immerse themselves in the paintings of Perugino, Giotto and Piero della Francesca. Their naive vision of bliss erodes when their ``fixer-upper'' farmhouse begins to resemble the portal to Dante's inferno.

Leading the Greens to renovation hell is a diabolically dishonest adviser, an Englishman named Stan Blemish. His building contract with the Americans includes a major loophole for imprevisti or ``things unseen,'' which, thanks to an inept, unreliable builder, are constant.

We also meet two Italian couples, relocated to Umbria from big cities, who are having relationship problems. Monti, abandoned by his wife for her lover in Turin, is a college history professor. He finds both escape from and reminders of his wife's betrayal in his research of the bloody intrigues of 15th and 16th century Perugia.

Fabio and his younger lover, Arturo, have been together for 15 years when Arturo suddenly takes off. To make matters worse, Fabio has just signed all his property over to the penniless Arturo in a ploy to save money on taxes.

So what do these folks have in common? They all need a good lawyer - exactly what they find in the great avvocato Mancini. The novel's most appealing character, Mancini is something of a tactical genius who comprehends all: Italy, the law and, most important, human nature. His advice often takes liberties with the letter of the law, which he defines as ``mainly tedious rambling.''

The only character who doesn't quite fit into this crowd is Ritter, a former translator who's German. He's in Umbria seeking solace and recovery after an emotional collapse. He remains haunted by his own irrational guilt and memories of his father's murderous crimes in World War II. Ritter's comparative lack of expectations spares him the disappointment afflicting his neighbors.

Unsworth, a winner of Britain's Booker Prize, juggles the many story lines of ``After Hannibal'' with ease. He spices them with entertaining digressions into Italian history and descriptions of Umbria's delightful hill towns. His appealing writing style has a modest simplicity that can, however, be stiff at times. (Perhaps the author's residence in Umbria has made English his second language?)

But mostly, Unsworth's love for his adopted home shines through, his implicit caveats to other would-be invaders notwithstanding. Perhaps he's using some Mancini-ish psychology, hoping his cautionary tales will scare us foreigners away. MEMO: Peggy Deans Earle is a staff librarian who dreams of living in

Umbria someday. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

NAN A. TALESE/DOUBLEDAY

``After Hannibal'' is set in the central Italian region of Umbria.

Graphic

BOOK REVIEW

``After Hannibal''

Author: Barry Unsworth

Publisher: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. 250 pp.

Price: $22.95