Folio. EU RAMAN AICI.

Trina wants to teach in Curon, a South Tyrol village. The story starts in 1920 as she seeks a new life. She earns the right to teach. But Mussolini’s regime bans the use of German in class. She joins a group of secret schools. She risks arrest by teaching there.

By 1939, Trina has a husband and children. Germany gives local families a choice: move to the Reich or stay. Her family stays, but neighbours call them spies and traitors. Then her daughter goes missing. Her husband later hides in the mountains to avoid the Eastern Front. Their son, in contrast, is glad to serve in the Wehrmacht.

Marco Balzano’s novel tells of the past. It follows a German farm family in northern Italy. Fascist rule and Nazi power put their home at risk. These forces also divide the family’s loyalties. Trina tells the story to her absent daughter. She shares memories of their life. Her tale links grief and lost hopes with their fight to go on. The village faces war, racism and harm to the land. Balzano writes in plain prose about ties to home. He also explores the pain of feeling that you do not belong.

This Folio edition has Elena Banica’s translation of Resto qui. The novel reached the finals for the Strega and Femina prizes. It also won the Méditerranée Prize. Balzano was born in Milan in 1978. His books have come out in 35 countries.