“Salento, Italy, June 1934: A coach stops in the main square of Lizzanello, a tight-knit village where everyone knows one another. A couple gets off: the man, Carlo, is happy to be back home after a long time away; the woman, Anna - his wife - is a stranger from the North. Carlo’s brother is there to meet them, and he and everyone else can’t help but notice that Anna is as beautiful as a Greek statue.”
That’s a synopsis paragraph from the flyleaf of Francesca Giannone’s novel The Letter Carrier. The novel takes place from 1934 to 1961 and focuses on three main families: the brothers Carlo and Antonio and that of Carmela, a spurned lover of Carlo.
Carlo’s wife, Anna, is different than the other women in the village, more independent with strong political views including women’s rights. The village and her husband are shocked when she is hired to be the village letter carrier, traditionally a man’s job. She does
more than just deliver the mail, sometimes reading the mail for those who are illiterate and befriending Giovanna, the village outcast.
Carlo grows his own vineyard and runs a very successful winery. His brother Antonio has a successful olive oil company. Over the years that the novel spans, both brothers have their share of marriage difficulties and infidelities. Antonio with a shrew for a wife, harbors a secret love for Anna.
This novel was translated by Elettra Pauletto. I am always impressed by a translator who can make such a seamless transition.
If you like novels depicting relationships in a small village, then you must read The Letter Carrier by Francesca Giannone.
