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| Source: Goodreads |
Marcello Fois
Translated by Silvester Mazzarella (from Italian)
2014, Maclehose Press
288 pages, family history, historical novel
After his wife dies, a blacksmith from a small village in Sardinia adopts an orphaned boy, Michele Angelo Chironi, and trains him to become a master blacksmith. When the boy has grown up, he falls in love with another orphan, Mercede Lai. They marry and begin to live in prosperity, with a bustling business, large forge, and their own vineyard.
The world gets in the way of their happiness, and the couple is plagued with misfortune when it comes to having children. Not only are there several miscarriages, but two of their sons are brutally murdered when they are only 10 years old. Of the three younger children, one enlists in the army during the first World War, one trains with his father to be a blacksmith, and the girl gets married to a person of rank.
Through the tale of this family in a remote region of Sardinia, the author demonstrates the far-reaching effects of modernity, development, and war.
