"From the author of Nives, a story of love, redemption, and resistance set in Italy during WWII
Maremma, Tuscany, November 1943. Le Case is a village far from everything. Seen from there, even the war looks different-mostly waiting, prayers, poverty. As a fierce winter looms, an order is issued to arrest all Jews and detain them in the bishop's villa, awaiting deportation.
René is the town's shoemaker. Everyone calls him Settebello, "lucky seven," a nickname he got at a young age after losing three fingers on a lathe. Now he's fifty years old. Shy, solitary, taciturn. No family or acquaintances-except for Anna, a lifelong friend who could have been something more. René never had the courage to declare his feelings. In fact, he never had the courage to do anything. His days are always the same: home and work-keep a straight path.
When Anna's son Edoardo-who had secretly joined the Resistance-is captured and shot by the Wehrmacht, the woman vows to continue his mission. One evening she disappears, leaving René a note with a few instructions. When news spreads that a group of rebels have fallen into an ambush and are locked up in the bishop's villa and that among them there's a woman, Settebello can no longer just watch.
Masterfully weaving together personal and historical narratives, Naspini captures the essence of a community navigating the horrors of war. Inspired by real events, The Bishop's Villa is a poignant reflection on the power of memory and the capacity of the human spirit to resist even in the darkest of times."
"Ein Gespräch voller überraschender Wendungen
Nives hat kürzlich ihren Mann verloren, nach langjähriger Ehe. Zuerst gefasst, bald aber einsam auf ihrem Hof, beschließt sie, ihr Lieblingshuhn Giacomina ins Haus zu holen, und muss erstaunt feststellen, wie gut ihr diese Gesellschaft tut. Als Giacomina sich eines Abends plötzlich nicht mehr bewegt, weil sie zu lange auf die Waschmaschinenwerbung gestarrt hat, gerät Nives in Panik: Sie ruft Loriano Bottai an, den befreundeten Tierarzt, den sie wie alle anderen Dorfbewohner seit Jahrzehnten kennt. Was folgt, ist ein Gespräch, das wiederholt unerwartete Wendungen nimmt, Unausgesprochenes entlarvt, Beziehungsgeflechte offenlegt, in die Abgründe einer verpassten Liebe blicken lässt und schlussendlich die Frage stellt, was ein Leben eigentlich ausmacht - die verpassten oder die gelebten Chancen?"
"Meet Nives: widow, Tuscan through-and-through, survivor. Nives recently lost her husband of fifty years. She didn’t cry when she found him dead in the pig pen, and she didn’t cry at the funeral, but now loneliness has set in. When she decides to bring her favorite chicken inside for company, she is shocked, confused, and a little bit guilty to discover that the chicken’s company is a more-than-adequate replacement for her dead husband. But one day, Giacomina goes stiff in front of the tv. Unable to rouse the paralyzed chicken, Nives has no choice but to call the town veterinarian, Loriano Bottai, an old acquaintance of hers. What follows is a phone call that seems to last a lifetime, a phone call that becomes a novel. Their conversation veers from the chicken to the past—to the life they once shared, the secrets they never had the courage to reveal, wounds that never healed. This novel reverberates with the kinds of stories we tell ourselves at night when we cannot sleep: stories of love lost, of abandonment, of silent and heart-breaking nostalgia, of joy and laughter and despair. With delicate yet sharp prose and raw, astonishing honesty, Sacha Naspini bravely explores the core of our shared humanity."
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