The Thread of Hope
Shortlisted for Premio Andersen as Best book for age 15+
Shortlisted for Premio Andersen as Best book for age 15+Vita, an elderly Sicilian woman, is confined to her home, where she is reflecting on the past and putting her emotions in order, and she decides to leave a testimony to her granddaughter Nina. Through her memories, she tells the story of her youth, the times when she embroidered and fought against exploitation.
Inspired by a true story, the novel recounts the great mobilisation of women in 1968 in Santa Caterina Villarmosa, a small town in Sicily, where embroiderers opposed the middlemen who underpaid them. The women’s protest led to the approval, in 1973, of a law to protect homework.
“A story that takes us back in time to 1973 and the refusal by the home embroiderers of Santa Caterina Villarmosa of the Mafia’s intermediation in their work. A historical cross-section of events but above all of people, of values and difficult decisions, of obstacles to overcome in order to redeem oneself, all told by a limpid and passionate writing.” — Jury of Premio Andersen
“With a beautiful language, attentive to the relationship with history, with precise references to events that took place in the second half of the 20th century, Guia Risari holds the thread of the story and offers the reader a special amalgam of words and thoughts, of fiction and real life.” — IBBY Italy
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