A book that transports us to the past and sinks us into pages of history that are less known, while also inviting us to explore places where nature offers breathtaking backdrops. Ilaria Tuti, a highly cherished author of best-selling crime novels featuring Teresa Battaglia, returns to bookstores with a tale that moves us back in time to World War II and the invasion of Carnia by the Cossacks. We find ourselves in the northwestern part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and it is there that we can discover scenery of remarkable beauty, amid mountains, dense forests, and villages worth visiting. And there is nothing better than experiencing it in the company of the right book.
Discovering Carnia together with And It’s a Little Night and a Little Dawn, the latest novel by Ilaria Tuti published by Longanesi.
All About Carnia, the Friuli region at the heart of the book
There are novels that have the merit of showing us places incredible through the eyes of the author. That is Carnia, a region in the northwestern part of Friuli, featuring high peaks (the highest summit reaches 2,780 meters), valleys, forests, and villages.
Several locations are mentioned in the novel, whose protagonist is Serafina, a courageous woman who lives in a borderland and carries ancient beliefs within herself. She is the narrator of the arrival of the Cossacks and she remains the one who guides us through a tale that captivates and envelops.
The Free Zone of Carnia is the beating heart of Ilaria Tuti’s new book, an autonomous area created by the Partisans in August 1944 and lasting not even a handful of months during World War II.
And what are some of the stops to reach while accompanied by And It’s a Little Night and a Little Dawn? For instance, the Valley of Verzegnis, mentioned in the opening pages of the novel. Here you can do some beautiful hikes, perhaps along the artificial lake or exploring the red marble quarries or toward the eponymous mountain. History is not absent, and in that case you can visit the Chapel of San Martino, or, for art lovers, it is worth heading to the Art Park.
And then the municipality of Cavazzo Carnico with its hamlets. The protagonist, for example, lives beyond the hamlet of Mena, alone on a sunlit slope, but the entire area is worth exploring starting from Cesclans, with a parish church that appears to have been erected between the 7th and 8th centuries A.D.: it sits higher than the small town and dominates also the Cavazzo Lake, the largest natural basin (of glacial origin) in the region.
Countless stops can be reached in Carnia, among villages to discover and hikes in nature, but — given that we are talking about Ilaria Tuti — one cannot miss stepping off the beaten path and visiting the author’s own town: Gemona del Friuli with its cathedral, the bell tower, and the castle, a true jewel. It is even mentioned in the book.
Trava and the Sanctuary: Another Central Place in the Novel
There is another central place in the novel, namely the sanctuary of Our Lady of Trava, where the protagonist’s grandmother performs a rite based on a popular belief: attempting to give the last breath back to newborns who die at birth in order to baptize them and spare them Limbo.
It is located in the hamlet of Trava, which is part of the Municipality of Lauco, and it was erected in 1659: it is said that the Madonna of Mount Carmel was miraculous and granted that very last breath. It is reached in about 15 minutes by a path that offers a striking view, and it is important, as explained on the official Friuli-Venezia Giulia tourism site, to book the visit since it is run by volunteers.
So many places that provide an even more vibrant and alive atmosphere, when visited with the eyes of the author thanks to And It’s a Little Night and a Little Dawn, the latest essential novel by Ilaria Tuti.
