Synopsis

Ida's eyes were shining. Three pieces of her heart were slipping away, and even if it wasn't America, this Scotland was far away. When she brought them into the world, she'd only thought of this world, stretching from Mount Asprano to the Liri Valley, and containing countless villages. How much more space was needed to grow up and raise a family? Freedom! The powerful sound of that word, to which his father is so attached, echoes in Giovanni's mind, but he can't fully grasp its meaning. What need could they, the Datti di Lanza family, masters in that land of Ciociaria where everyone works their backs in other people's fields, have to be free? It's more understandable that it's his friend Nevio, the second-to-last of six children of a peasant family, who wants to escape the yoke of a destiny already decided, the toil and the life identical to that of his loved ones. And indeed, Nevio leaves for Scotland to shake off poverty and build a future for himself. This is why Giovanni isn't afraid when he discovers he'll have to move with his parents to Scotland. The painful separation from his beloved grandfather is eased by the certainty of seeing his friend again. The Scotland that appears before his eyes after the long journey, however, has nothing in common with the paradise they spoke of in their hometown. It's a cold, harsh, inhospitable land for a young boy who suddenly finds himself the head of the family, penniless and with a noble lineage now worthless. Giovanni and Nevio couldn't be more different, but both, helped or hindered by the constellation of characters they'll encounter in this new life, by the loves, challenges, and losses, will try, according to their own inclinations and abilities, to become someone. An intense and powerful novel, a story of escapes and returns where the search for freedom clashes and intertwines with the need to call a place home.