Paveses novels are works of an extraordinary depth where one never stops finding new levels new meanings Italo CalvinoJune 1943 Allied aircraft are bombing Turin fascist Italy is on its knees Every evening after a days teaching in the city Corrado returns to the safety of the hills and the care of his two doting landladies He has no attachments no obligations Yet against his better judgement he is drawn to the easy warmth of a circle of antifascists who congregate at a nearby tavern and confronted with a painful choice emotional and political commitment with all its dangers or devastating retreat Paveses extraordinary semiautobiographical novel is a lucid portrayal of missed opportunities and human weakness set against the seductive intensity of the Italian countrysideTranslated with an introduction by Tim ParksShortlisted for The Society of Authors Translation Award 2022
