La strada giovane

Nino, a young Sicilian baker, is captured after 8 September. He didn’t understand much about the armistice; he thought the Germans were sending him home to his family in the Madonie mountains, but instead that train took him to a prison camp beyond the Alps, where he suffered hunger, cold and fear. Nino is an IMI, a military internee, without even the rights of a prisoner. Some comfort comes from his friendship with Lorenzo, a lively young Tuscan who works with him in the kitchens run by the Piedmontese, a giant butcher. Together, the three seize the opportunity of the chaos of the New Year’s Eve celebrations of 1944 to escape. But outside, the cold, hunger and fear bite just as hard: finding your way is not easy, finding food and shelter is a challenge, and people are terrified and ferocious. Sicily seems unreachable and Nino leaves his innocence and youth behind, kilometre after kilometre. Yet, sustaining him on his endless journey through Nazi-occupied territories, where partisan bands are fighting and bombings continue, and then through the devastation of a South ravaged by the Allied advance, is the memory of beauty and the warmth of affection. As he feeds on the red snails that emerge from the ground after the rain, his memories also emerge: the feast of the Saint on 15th August, the smell of butter and vanilla from the biscuits made by his father, the taste of stewed babbaluci, the excitement of the Targa Florio, the famous car race. And the warmth of Maria Assunta’s kisses, who is perhaps still waiting for him and whom he wants to embrace again at all costs. Inspired by a family story, La strada giovane is Antonio Albanese’s first novel, revealing a talent for tense, at times dramatic storytelling tinged with tenderness. Nino is a poignant and authentic protagonist, impossible not to fall in love with.