Figlie selvagge

Benevento, 1630. Bianca runs, crossing the woods, breathless, on her way home. She knows the path like the back of her hand, yet she senses a presence amongst the trees: someone is following her; she can smell their unpleasant scent in the air. She must not give in to fear, she tells herself, even though some girls have been attacked right nearby, and there is no trace of the real culprit. Indeed, a rumour is spreading through the town that it was the janare, women who – like her, her mother and her sister Maria – live on the outskirts of Benevento, know the secrets of plants and use them to heal the sick. For the city’s chief physician, Pietro Piperno, the janare are creatures of the devil: witches, in short, against whom he calls for the Church to intervene. His obsession with them is fuelled by the unrequited desire he feels for Maria. So, when she disappears, Bianca finds herself alone in her quest to uncover the truth behind the mystery of her disappearance. She too is in danger, but she is determined to pursue a destiny of freedom and love with a single, powerful weapon at her disposal: sisterhood. In a novel that captivates and fascinates, Cinzia Giorgio delves into the legend of the witches of Benevento, restoring to the janare of the Sannio the voice that history has denied them: that of wise women, persecuted for their wisdom, who celebrated life.