Dario
Franceschini

After the end of World War I, the anger of thousands of laborers, exploited for decades in the reclamation work of the malaria-infested valleys, explodes in the Ferrara countryside. The Callegari’s are a family of scariolanti and washerwomen who traverse this universe of misery and idealism, of water and land, in which it is the women, first among them Ginisca, who try to change the fate of their daughters. The province of Ferrara after the war finds itself under the unchallenged rule of the red leagues, then it is overwhelmed by the reaction of the black shirt squads, and it is in this climate of hatred and violence that Tina and Lucia, daughters of a fascist agrarian and a socialist master-labourer, meet. A love story in the land of Balbo, Matteotti and Don Minzoni.

Supported by writing that combines the enveloping tones of magical realism with the precise tones of historical narrative, this choral novel, full of vitalism and unforgettable characters, draws readers in, delivering a story to which we still belong.