Anna Allavena, Letter Carrier: the extraordinary story of an ordinary woman who moves from Northern Italy to the South and becomes the first postwoman in a village in the Salento region.

A riveting story about female courage and emancipation, as well as about two inseparable brothers destined to love the same woman.

Salento, June 1934. A coach stops in the main square of Lizzanello, a village with only a few souls. A couple get off: the man, Carlo, a child of the South, is happy to be back home; the woman, Anna – his wife – is from the North. She is as beautiful as a Greek statue, but sad and worried: what kind of life awaits her in this unfamiliar land?

In the eyes of the villagers, Anna never ceases to be “the foreigner” who doesn’t attend church, doesn’t wander around the village and doesn’t gossip. Proud and prickly, Anna never yields to the customs of Southern women: not only does she take the postal services public exam, but actually passes it and becomes the first postwoman in the village, or rather the first “letter carrier”, as she wants to be called.

For over twenty years, Anna is the invisible thread that brings the village residents and their stories together. First on foot, then by bicycle, proud in her navy blue cap and uniform, Anna delivers letters from the young men at the front, postcards from emigrants and missives from secret lovers. Without meaning to – and above all without the villagers wanting it – the letter carrier changes many things in Lizzanello.

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Following the huge success of La portalettere, currently being translated in 44 countries, Francesca Giannone returns with a deeply emotional and evocative novel that explores the power of family bonds. Lorenzo and Agnese, siblings, are united by their love for the family soap factory but divided by a life-altering decision that shapes their futures. A compelling and heartfelt story of personal growth and complex familial relationships.

Salento, late 1950s. Lorenzo and Agnese have lost everything. Their father has sold the family’s soap factory, a legacy he experienced as a millstone, but which, for the siblings,  represented a reason for living. Now, to remain there as ordinary workers for a new, arrogant owner is a dreadful perspective. On an impulse, Lorenzo decides to leave, intending to find the money to take back what belongs to him. Agnese, on the other hand, decides to stay, unwilling to abandon her home of talc and soap. This leads to a serious and apparently fatal division between the siblings, taking them in opposite and unforeseen directions.

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