▁most ▁famous ▁and ▁widely ▁read ▁novel ▁of ▁the ▁Italian ▁language . ▁The ▁Bet ro th ed ▁was ▁inspired ▁by ▁Walter ▁Scott ' s ▁Ivan ho e ▁but , ▁compared ▁to ▁its ▁model , ▁shows ▁some ▁innov ations ▁( two ▁member ▁of ▁the ▁lower ▁class ▁as ▁principal ▁characters , ▁the ▁past ▁described ▁without ▁rom antic ▁ideal ization , ▁an ▁explicitly ▁Christian ▁message ), ▁somehow ▁for er unning ▁the ▁real istic ▁novel ▁of ▁the ▁following ▁dec ades . ▁Set ▁in ▁northern ▁Italy ▁in ▁ 1 6 2 8 , ▁during ▁the ▁opp ress ive ▁years ▁under ▁Spanish ▁rule , ▁it ▁is ▁sometimes ▁seen ▁as ▁a ▁ve iled ▁attack ▁on ▁Austria , ▁which ▁controlled ▁the ▁region ▁at ▁the ▁time ▁the ▁novel ▁was ▁written . ▁ ▁The ▁critical ▁and ▁popular ▁success ▁of ▁The ▁Bet ro th ed ▁gave ▁rise ▁to ▁a ▁crowd ▁of ▁im itations ▁and , ▁in ▁the ▁age ▁of ▁un ification , ▁almost ▁every ▁Italian ▁writer ▁tried ▁his ▁hand ▁at ▁the ▁genre ; ▁nov els ▁now ▁almost ▁forgotten , ▁like ▁Marco ▁Vis cont i ▁by ▁T omm aso ▁G ross i ▁( Man z oni ’ s ▁best ▁friend ) ▁or ▁E tt ore ▁F ier amos ca ▁by ▁Mass imo ▁D ’ Az eg lio ▁( Man z oni ’ s ▁son ▁in ▁law ), ▁were ▁the ▁best - s ellers ▁of ▁their ▁time . ▁ ▁Many ▁of ▁these ▁authors ▁( like ▁Nic col ò ▁T omm ase o , ▁Francesco ▁D omen ico ▁Guer raz zi ▁and ▁D ’ Az eg lio ▁himself