I bambini di Svevia, Romina Casagrande
“Casagrande writes about the “bambini delle rondini” or the children of the swallows, who traveled by foot from South Tyrol to Swabia, or southwestern Germany, every year to find work in the countryside for three centuries until World War II. The novel follows Edna and Jacob who escaped being sold by their families to work in Swabia, a fate that many suffered during this period. Edna must now begin her journey back to where her story started in order to move forward with her future.”
La linea del colore, Igiaba Scego
“At the end of the 19th century in Italy, Lafanu Brown brought her art with her to Europe from the US. Scego juxtaposes Brown with art curator of Somali origin who is an expert in colonialism in her field. Her passion for the past will turn into love for the future as the book details the lives of Lafanu and Leila.”
Le condizioni atmosferiche, Enrico Palandri
“Six novels, six stages of the same journey within a novel. Enrico Palandri tells private stories within the historical and social framework of the last forty years. His characters camp, disappear and resurface from story to story, dispersed and brought back close by the events of life, going through a long time of great changes, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to migrating as a state of the soul. Venice, London and many other European cities, globalization and addictions, youthful passions and art, loves, children, families dissolved and recomposed and to be reinvented every day: everything flows in a sharp, rough and melancolic portrait, full of passion and compassion for the effort and joy of living life.”
Mara. Una donna del Novecento, Ritanna Armeni
“Mara was born in 1920 and is 13 years old when Armeni’s story begins. She has a best friend, Nadia, a convinced fascist, who takes her to hear Mussolini in Piazza Venezia. She likes to read and when she grows up she wants to be a writer or a journalist. So many dreams and hopes go through her: to study Latin literature, to become beautiful and independent like her elegant aunt Luisa, with her little hats and her strong and fast pace. The future seems close at hand, safe under the portrait of Mussolini that stands in her living room between the two armchairs. Its isn’t until doubt begins to work, to draw small cracks and to open wounds. What remains is to obey one’s own desires: in storms they keep afloat, and in blue skies they know how to draw the streets of tomorrow.”
Ragazzo italiano, Gian Arturo Ferrari
“Ferrari writes about the experiences, adventures, realizations and coming-of-age moments that characterize Ninni’s childhood, a boy living in Emilia-Romagna post-World War II. In his own experiences as a child there is a reflection of the country, anxiety about the future and the lives of the children of post-World War II Italy.”