All Men Are Mortal

The novel begins in the twentieth century with Régine, who wants fame strong enough to outlast her death. She becomes fascinated by Fosca, a detached stranger who says he cannot die.

Fosca's long history moves through Renaissance Italy, imperial politics, revolution, exploration, and modern war. Each project promises that sacrifice now will create a final good later. His immortality lets him see the same reasoning repeat while individual people remain mortal.

Régine meets Raymond Fosca in a French hotel and tries to make herself the one person he will remember.

Fosca explains how an immortality potion turned him from a ruler determined to improve his city into a witness moving through centuries of failed political plans.

His story challenges Régine's belief that being remembered by someone who cannot die would give her life permanent meaning.