Malinverno

In these villages, books are in the air. The words of novels and poems belong to everyone. And the names of newborns suggest dreams. Timpamara has been a village like no other for many years. It was here that the oldest paper mill in the region was set up, and it was soon joined by another mill. The librarian for that village was Astolfo Malinverno. One fine morning, the town clerk informed him abruptly that he would also be taking up the position of caretaker at the cemetery. Astolfo is a reader with an active imagination. He mingles stories from novels with those of villagers, strangers, library users and cemetery visitors, the living and the dead. What really interests him is a photograph of a woman whose eyes meet his candidly, her skin pale, her hair in two smooth ribbons. There is no name, no date – only this image. She is his Emma Bovary instantly. It is this mystery in her face that attracts Astolfo to follow the thread from the photograph to experience a story he could never have imagined.
Domenico Dara combines oral storytellers with writing suspended in time. Malinverno is a fascinating novel on the strength of books, stories, imagination, and love.