Southern Italy, January 1943.Elisa is eighteen; she is a simple girl and lives with her father Vito and her older brother Antonio. Her life is marked by a sad and sometimes terrifying monotony: insufficient rations, submission to the men of the house, retaliations by the Camicie Nere and Allied bombings. She has no idea what the sea, freedom and love are, but her life is about to change. The encounter with a mysterious man will cast shadows and doubts on the certainties of the local community and on Elisa’s, on her family ties. The girl, though, also has a secret: it could mean the ruin of the only hope they can look forward to. In a novel that tastes of sun and lime, of earth and dark bread, life pursues and challenges the horrors of dictatorship and concentration camps; it has hope in anti-fascist actions and stands up to loss. The story of a girl who, forced by the war, by hate and by a powerful, overwhelming love, becomes a woman. The conscience of forgotten heroes who, with their contribution, made History great.
advertisement