"I feel like a little boat. I yearn to be out at sea, sailing away, travelling and seeing the world. But instead I'm stuck on a mountain where a boat is pretty much useless".
Blurb:
Apennine Mountains, Italy, 1965
Leonora Bacchetti was once a happy child. But at the age of seventeen she has become a wild and rebellious young woman who leaves her parents in despair when she runs away from home with a group of itinerant travellers.
In the eyes of their friends and neighbours in the tight-knit village of Montacciolo, her parents' good name is ruined.
At first, Leonora keeps in touch with her mother and father, sending letters and postcards from different countries until, very abruptly, her correspondence stops. The girl has vanished.
Vague, unreliable rumours of her fate abound, but newspaper appeals, police and private investigations reveal nothing.
Until, eighteen years later, in the midst of a snowstorm, a stranger from Sardinia knocks on the door of Leonora's father's little mountain house.
Now a widower, he has come to terms with never knowing what happened to his daughter. But everything changes when the unexpected visitor claims that he has new information.
The two men quickly bond and gradually begin to piece together the truth about Leonora, provoking deep questions about her life and how they have lived their own - questions about love, loyalty, honesty and what being a family really means.
The Sardinian Story is a novel of exquisite power and deep emotion which will live long in the memories of its readers.
An elderly widower Dante Bacchetti is living a quiet life of solitude in his little mountain house in the Apennines, with just a goat Gineprina for company. One February day, when there is a blizzard raging outside, a stranger arrives at his doorstep. Dante is amazed and alarmed at the same time. Who would travel in such weather to find his remote home and why?
The stranger introduces himself. Jubanne Melis Paddu comes to see Dante all the way from Sardinia, with information about his missing daughter. Leonora has been missing for many years, and Dante has given up all hope that she might be still alive.
As two men share their recollections of Leonora, their own personal stories slowly unfold, to overturn all our preconceptions. There are many secrets in Dante's life, and Jubanne, with his life-changing head injury is not the most reliable witness.
The story of Leonora is revealed, bit by bit, like a jigsaw puzzle, pieces of which are slotted together. We see glimpses of real Leonora too, and not just as she appears in the narratives of both men.
It starts as a deceptively simple story. You think you know where it is going but you will be totally blown away by the ending.
Leonora is a bright girl, with a great imagination and a talent for poetry. Living with her parents in Montacciolo, she feels suffocated by her own family drama, and the narrow-minded outlook of the villagers.
When Leonora meets the groups of travellers, she is bewitched. Their lives seem to her to be so free and rich in experience, especially when "compared with her stifling, shut-up existence in Montacciolo, where a trip into the nearest town to borrow a book from the library was like a foreign expedition". They greet her with warmth, and embrace her wholeheartedly, and Leonora is smitten. Having tasted a sip of freedom, going back to her oppressed life feels impossible now.
She hesitates to leave her mother, of course, she does, but staying at home is akin to self-destruction. In the parochial isolated world of Montacciolo, Leonora has committed a crime. Her departure with the group of travellers has left an indelible stain on the reputation of her parents. Dante becomes an object of mockery and distrust, a pariah.
At first, the postcards and short letters arrive to her parents' house from all over the world, then they suddenly stop as if Leonora has vanished into the thin air. The police is useless, and not overly interested in finding the missing woman. The private investigators fail as well. It seems, nobody knows anything about Leonora.
That is, until Jubannu arrives to Dante's house many years later with his own story.
Jubannu is a complicated character, portrayed with compassion and empathy. His life has changed dramatically after a head injury. He is a "tortured, half-existing man". "...the exhausting confusion, the constant questioning of what was real, the crazy, illogical way his brain cherry-picked what to remember". You heart will go to the afflicted man, and you will feel his pain.
Franscesca Scanacapra is such a talented storyteller. Just seeing her name on the book cover is enough for me to know that it will be another moving and emotionally charged story. Without hesitation Scanacapra is one of my favourite modern writers.
With a piercing psychological insight and a deep compassion, she creates believable characters. The author writes with great elegance and perfect pacing. Her writing style is exquisite, lyrical and ferociously honest at the same time.
The Sardinian Story is an affecting and poignant tale, deceptive and lucid, heartbreakingly tender and deeply moving. It will sweep you away.
This review is part of the blog tour for The Sardinian Story. Many thanks to Francesca Scanacapra, Silvertail Books and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sardinian-Story-absolutely-heartbreaking-unputdownable-ebook/dp/B0CF5ZVTRY
https://www.amazon.com/Sardinian-Story-absolutely-heartbreaking-unputdownable-ebook/dp/B0CF5ZVTRY
Author Bio
–
Francesca
Scanacapra was born in
Italy to an English mother and Italian father, and her childhood was spent
living between England and Italy. Her adult life has been somewhat nomadic with
periods spent living in Italy, England, France, Senegal and Spain. She
describes herself as 'unconventional' and has pursued an eclectic mixture of
career paths – from working in translation, the fitness industry, education and
even several years as a builder. In 2021 she returned to her native country and
back to her earliest roots to pursue her writing career full time. Francesca
now resides permanently in rural Lombardy in the house built by her
great-grandfather which was the inspiration for her Paradiso Novels:
Paradiso, Return to Paradiso and The Daughter of Paradiso.
Her novel The Lost Boy of Bologna was also published by Silvertail
Books.
Social
Media Links –
Twitter https://twitter.com/FrancescaScana2
Insta @francescascana2
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