A Winter's Night (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781609450762)

Set during the first half of the twentieth century, this is the story of the Brunis, a family of farmers from the Italian Padan Plain who have worked the land since time immemorial. And it is a story about the homeless multitudes, travelers, and tinkers, roaming Europe during the hardscrabble nineteen-twenties and thirties. In this expansive novel, reminiscent of Bertolucci's masterpiece 1900 in its scope and subject matter, these two worlds meet when the Brunis open their great barn and offer it as a refuge for those in need of a warm, dry, and safe place to sleep and eat.

The barn becomes font and inspiration for a series of vivid stories involving sundry strangers, the Bruni parents themselves, and their nine children--seven boys and two girls--who will grow into young men and women during World War I and its aftermath. Told in the tradition of country folktales and framed by the devastating years of strife--two world wars and the years of fascism--these stories will delight readers from the first page to the last. Manfredi's A Winter's Night provides a timely reminder that simple values and a sense of solidarity with our fellow human beings remain of vital importance, above all in a world undergoing momentous and rapid change.

Author: Valerio Massimo Manfredi
ISBN-10: 1609450760
ISBN-13: 9781609450762
Publisher: Europa Editions
Language: English
Published: 08/28/2012
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.10w x 1.20d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2012 pg. 1569
Booklist 09/01/2012 pg. 57
New Yorker (The) 11/19/2012 pg. 91